Old Friends
by AileenRoseven
Summary: San Fransokyo a futuristic city, known for its culture, its people… And a certain team of heroes who live a double life as college students. But there's more to that. For one girl it means growing up and trying to find herself in a city of countless people. Trying to stand out and hope that she finds herself.
1. Routine

She was going to be late.

There was a cable car creating a crater in the middle of the road.

And she was going to be late.

The girl squeezed her way off the bus, trying to get past all the people who were running in a panic. She could see figures in colorful costumes.

_Looks like I have a valid excuse. Ms. Cheyenne never, EVER, questions when someone says Big Hero 6 is why they're late. _

She still felt bad however, as she took off running trying to make sure she didn't trip on the way. Her school was still twenty minutes away on foot.

_Gah why did that cable car have to pick TODAY to get wrecked!?_

It wasn't bad enough that she was up late studying the night before worried about how her test was going to go. It wasn't bad enough that her rabbit was out of food and she had to run to the petstore on the way home so her rabbit had to deal with just one carrot for its breakfast.

But now she was late.

_Peachy._

_Just gotta get to school… Get to school and deal with it…_

oooooo

Hiro sighed as he hurried to get ready for his day at the cafe. It was a rough morning with the accident victims and the press trying to get involved. _It's a miracle we got out in one piece…_

_Okay bit dramatic but man can the press be scary… _ He thought tying on his apron and running a hand through his hair before going out to the cafe to start working.

"See Aunt Cass? No rocket boots this time!"

Cass looked up to the ceiling. "Arigatou Kami-sama…" She murmured.

Hiro chuckled rolling his eyes before starting to wait on tables running orders back and forth. Was just another day. He was grateful for no classes today. Exhaustion was still hanging on to him.

_Work should wake me up…_

"Don't push yourself too hard Otouto." a voice whispered to him.

"I'll be fine Nii-san." Hiro whispered back, grinning a little. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Alright." the voice chuckled. "I'll be in the kitchen with Baymax if ya need me."

Hiro shook his head, focusing back on his task.

_Let's see no one else has come in yet-_

THUD!

He jumped a little looking over to one of the tables seeing a young girl slumped over it, her backpack on it as well. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a bun and she had some dark circles under her eyes.

_Oh dear… looks like Kathleen is having another rough day. When the hair is pulled back you know it's a stress day._

He made his way over, tapping on her shoulder.

"Rough day?"

She nodded. "Yeah…" She mumbled. "I was late… And I had a sub who wouldn't believe me when I tried to explain why…"

"Yikes… sorry Kat…"

The girl sighed sitting up, leaning her chin on her hand. "It's okay… Can't exactly expect everyone to believe the "Big Hero 6" excuse every time… Even if it's a valid one."

_Crap she must've gotten cut off due to the cable car accident… Yikes… _

"Well… yeah… What can I get ya?"

Kathleen smiled. "How about you surprise me this time?" she challenged, giggling a bit. "You got just as bad a sweet tooth as I do."

"Challenge accepted." Hiro jotted down a small note before heading behind the counter. "Hey Nii-san. Kat asked for a surprise again… and she's been having a really bad day today."

Tadashi looked over from his work station shaking his head. "Oh boy. Failed test, dropped her books in the fountain or late?"

"Late and subsitute teacher wouldn't believe her. She got cut off by the cable car accident."

Tadashi cringed. "Oh that mess was just BAD… Alright one Kathleen special coming up… All chocolate and caffeine."

Hiro nodded. "Coke should help…" He took down one of the soda cans… also grabbing a small bag of gummy bears. _And a little something from me._

Tadashi got the rest of the order ready including a slice of cake and a few house made chocolate truffles adding a bit of powdered sugar on top. "Alright there we go… Ready."

Hiro stacked the order on to a tray saluting to his bro. "Thanks bro!"

He headed back out, right back to Kathleen.

"Surprise from the house." he said as he set the tray down in front of her.

Kathleen's eyes lit up as she saw what was on it. "Oh this is just what I needed! Thank you!" She smiled taking her food and popping one of the truffles into her mouth. She sighed happily closing her eyes. _Food here is always so good… _ "Thanks Hiro." She smiled after swallowing it. "You always know just what to get."

"I have some help." He smiled, pulling out the bag of gummy bears. "And a little extra, on me." He set the bag down before heading off with his tray.

Kathleen smiled watching him go before going back to her food. _Note to self, leave a little extra in tips… He deserves it._

Didn't take long before Hiro was resting against a post near the cash register.

"Thank goodness for slow days." Hiro sighed in relief.

"Yeah. You've been working around the clock." Cass commented looking her nephew over. "You've been so busy with work and school." _And saving our town from itself… _"You can have tomorrow off if you want it Hiro."

"I'll be fine, don't want you running everything by yourself now." he gave a reassuring smile. "Family helps each other."

Cass smiled ruffling his hair. "That's my boy."

Hiro chuckled, smoothing his hair out a little. He took note some other customers came in.

"Oops, be right back." he hurried over, taking their orders. While he did Kathleen walked up to the register, handing in the money she owed for the meal.

"Thank you very much for the meal, really put me in a good mood."

Cass took the cash. "Glad to see hear it Kat. Rough day?"

"Yeah… but this place always has a way of bringing my spirits up." She handed over some extra cash. "A tip for Hiro… he gave me some gummy bears…"

Cass smiled. "Alright, I'll be sure to get it to him."

"Thank you." Kathleen headed back to her table, pulling out one of her books munching on the rest of her sweets.

"Your fan like her snacks?" Tadashi whispered in Hiro's ear when he passed by the kitchen. There was a teasing tone in the spirit's voice. _I can't help it. I'm his brother!_

Hiro gave an unimpressed look.

"This again? Really Tada-nii?"

"Yes Otouto. Again. She's always perking up whenever you go over to her. I could tell that even when I was alive."

Hiro shook his head. "It's not like THAT."

"Hiro, do you not talk to her a lot when there is not much work?" Baymax commented.

_BAYMAX YOU TRAITOR!_

Hiro turned red as he gave a little growl of frustration. "She's nice! And she doesn't mind! She… I've known her since I was little! It's not like that!"

"Oh he's yelling. Good note of a certain ailment only guys get when they like someone." Tadashi smirked.

"Denial." Baymax chimed.

"Darn right." He fist bumped the robot. "Fwoosh!"

"Ba-la-la-la."

"Guys…." Hiro groaned. "Cut it out!"

"I don't know… considering all the teasing you gave ME about Honey."

"Oh suddenly you don't like her? Cause I'm sure she's got a line of better looking guys-"

WHACK

"Don't put words in my mouth, bonehead."

"Ow!" Hiro winced, rubbing his head. "You summon the mocking, you get what you sow knucklehead."

"And I'm doing just that."

The teen rolled his eyes. "Just get me Mrs. Matsuda's order so I can take my break."

"Right away Otouto~" Tadashi put the order together, handing it to his brother. "What's the new try to be hip method today?"

"She's trying cosplay. Lemme tell ya… She does not make a good ninja." Hiro shook his head in disbelief. "On top of that purple lipstick that looks like that one sign off of Maine."

"Good grief." Tadashi shook his head chuckling. "I expect some photos."

Hiro smirked holding the tray in one hand and holding up his phone with the other. "You know it Nii-san."

"That's my Otouto." Tadashi ruffled his hair before going back to work, Hiro heading out.

He snuck a few photos before giving Mrs. Matsuda her order, nodding to her when she said thanks. He hurried behind the counter, dropping off his tray.

"Alright, be back in ten." he said, stretching a little.

"Alrighty, don't go too far." Cass replied before turning back to her customer. "Alright so-Andy you know Rena's gonna get me if you keep buying all of my cinnamon rolls instead of eating whatever she's offering."

"I know I know, team run today, I swear."

Hiro rolled his eyes.

_Same old Andy… Cinnamon Muncher extraordinaire._

Hiro wandered around the shop, passing by Kathleen, stopping momentarily to see what she was reading.

She had _Unsouled _in her hands looking at the pages intently. "No way…" She whispered as she read. _THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN!_

"Unsouled huh? Good choice."

Kathleen jumped a little looking to Hiro. She smiled. "Thanks, started this series after you told me about it, I'm really enjoying it."

"Glad to hear, I'm actually rereading through the final book." He sat down in the other chair that the table had. "Can never get over all the stuff that happens."

"If this book is any indication of what's gonna happen, I can't wait." Kathleen grinned. "Though… I can't.. Stand… Starkey. He's such a creep!"

"No one likes Starkey." Hiro dead panned. "If I ever met a guy like him I'd punch his lights out."

"I would too. Or let my brother's tarantula bite him." Kathleen gave her best impression of an evil look. "Tarantula bites aren't fun."

"Devlin right?"

"Yep. My brother couldn't take him with to the dorms - His roommates freaked out - So he asked me to spider sit."

"Got guts Kat." Hiro smirked a little. "Rare I meet a girl who doesn't shriek over spiders."

Kathleen blushed a little smiling sheepishly. "I've just been around 'em since I was little. Tarantula's can live up to twenty years so Devlin's been around…. I'm just used to him."

"I'm sure your brother appreciates that… How he's doing by the way? And your sister?"

"Charlie's doing good, he's been excelling in his classes and he's of course on the football team, so now he's talking big about going pro… And Alice has her drama major, she met a guy recently… Just about gave my father a heart attack!"

Hiro threw his head back laughing.

"Hahaha! That's right your dad is the protective type!"

Kathleen giggled. "Yup, he said and I quote: "You're too young! Nineteen isn't old enough for men to come by! You're forbidden until you're thirty!"

Hiro shook his head. "Man I haven't seen much of your family in awhile but I still have a good memory of them."

"They're hard to forget… Charlie still boasts about when he won that wing eating contest a few years back… Even if it left him on the couch whining for a few days."

"Have I mentioned enough times how dangerous Aunt Cass' hot wings are? Because I swear one time Tadashi almost caught fire when eating one."

Kathleen giggled. "I've heard. I can't really handle spicy food so I've never tried 'em. But from what you and Charlie have said they would probably knock me out."

"Probably down with one bite."

"I'd probably take two bites before downing water." Kathleen giggled. "Just how it is."

"Milk would be a better option for cooling a mouth that just had contact with hot wings… Oh… chocolate milk would be even better."

At this both teens sighed. "Chocolate…"

They looked at each other, staring a bit before laughing.

"Great minds think alike." Hiro chuckled.

"Especially minds who like the sweet stuff." Kathleen giggled.

"Amen to that."

"Yep… Thanks for sitting with me Hiro… It's nice to catch up… How's your fancy tech school been?"

"Been good, Kokoro is still being a bit of a pain though. He just doesn't want to work." Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. "He nearly whacked me last time."

Kathleen cringed. "For a robot named for heart it sure lacks it… You sure you wanna keep working on that? What if it knocks you out?" _Then again didn't it do that once?_

"Only on the 25th test, my brother took 84 with Baymax. I'm sure I can get Kokoro to work."

"I'm sure you can too. All the good things took time right? The cafe wasn't built in a day."

"Exactly." Hiro grinned.

She smiled. "You're so smart Hiro, I can't wait to see how it turns out."

"Well, all in good time." He got up stretching. "I better go… Good luck with whatever school work you have today."

"I'll need it, I got talked into some new classes because it'd look good on college apps." Kathleen went back to her book. "For now, fun time."

"Alright, catch ya later." Hiro gave a wave walking off.

Baymax had been watching the whole time, hurrying back into the kitchen before Hiro could notice.

"I watched the whole thing just like you asked Tadashi." Baymax said as he finished up something he had been preparing.

"And what happened?" Tadashi asked as he washed some dishes.

"They were very happy, their neurotransmitter levels higher than average, due to all the laughter."

"Knew it." Tadashi smirked. "He has it bad…"

"Kathleen's neurotransmitter levels in particular were higher. She also had blood rushing to her face, diagnosis: embarrassment."

"She's a blusher, but it got worse when she and Hiro got older…" Tadashi chuckled. "I knew it…"

"Has it always been like this?"

"No…" Tadashi smiled, feeling nostalgia. "Been friends with her family for a long time. Just…. ya know… kids… just being kids."

"Understood… So Kathleen was the first to show signs of affection?"

"Yup. Just happened one summer, Hiro had just graduated high school, Kathleen was still in middle school and she just… Kind of opened her eyes as it were." Tadashi paused in what he was doing looking over to Baymax. "Started stammering, blushing when he complimented her on something, nothing huge like: "Nice hair" or saying he liked her jacket if she was wearing something that had something of his interest. And she was hanging out with him when he was sketching up Megabot's design… Hiro of course was being himself…"

"I guess the saying that "girls mature faster than boys" is what fits this case."

Tadashi laughed. "Oh yes."

"Whatever Hiro does plan to do… I just want him in good health along with Kathleen."

"I'm sure he will… But if she breaks his heart, no more free food."

"Noted."


	2. It's Not Like That

"That's… not a pretty bruise."

Everyone in the lab cringed, seeing the bright red mark on Hiro's head as Baymax tended to him.

"Kokoro?" Honey asked.

"Yep… he hates me right now." Hiro mumbled, leaning his head back. "Uuuuggghh…"

Tadashi shook his head. "Remind me what that bot is supposed to do again?"

"..." Hiro put his head in his hands. "I barely even remember!"

"Ouch." Tadashi cringed.

"I agree with Immortal 7." Gogo shook her head. "Maybe you should drop this one."

"I can't… It's a matter of pride!" Hiro looked up. "I. Can't. Let. It. Beat. Me."

"I'm getting flashbacks of Tadashi's time with Baymax." Fred muttered.

Tadashi cringed again.

_Fred, I'd whack you right now, but then I'd give myself away and then crack goes the Anchor Gear. _

"Just don't get yourself killed." Wasabi commented. "Maybe fall back and regroup so you can remember what the heck Kokoro is supposed to do."

"Probably should…" Hiro sighed rubbing the back of his neck. "I had it, I had it in my head, it was gonna be AWESOME…. And then that little incident with trying to throw me out the window happened and I blocked it all out."

"Maybe you take a walk or something Hiro, you need to get your head cleared." Gogo went over to him, squeezing his shoulder. "Been a little too cooped up."

The boy nodded giving a sigh. "Yeah, I think my brain's gonna go melting out of my ear at this rate-Baymax don't even start on how illogical that is."

"Understood, here is your ice." the nurse bot said, handing the bag to Hiro.

Hiro thanked him before putting it to his head. "Once this bruise dies down a bit then I'll take that walk. Last thing I need is for everyone to know me as "Ice bag boy" while I'm on campus."

"Good plan."

"Yeah don't give Fred ideas." Everyone who had a nickname looked over to the mascot. "We all know how that ends."

"Wasabi on my shirt one time people… One. Time."

"It was three." Tadashi whispered to Hiro as he tried to hide a smirk.

"All are subject to nicknames eventually." Fred laughed maniacally.

"And all are thus unable to reject them." Gogo shook her head. "Get out now kid while we still call you by your name."

"Heh you can't beat the name Hiro." Hiro smirked. "It has all those meanings."

"True… I'll think of something eventually… though that Nerd Prince title still holds."

"It's my kingdom." Hiro gave a dramatic gesture to the rest of the lab. "This is my castle, you all are just working in it."

"_I'm King of the Lab and you guys are just working here." _

_He really does sound like his brother. _

Tadashi chuckled shaking his head. _Takes after me…_

After a few more minutes of chatting, Baymax checked the bruise once more. "There… All better…"

"Thanks Baymax… I'm gonna take that walk. Make sure no one gets impaled by Gogo-"

WHACK!

"OW!"

"That's for being a little twerp."

"Love you too." He rolled his eyes and walked out, shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of how to get Kokoro to function.

_I got the basic human appearance…. Well human ish. I can't add all the extra details without getting it to work…_

_Now function, function…._

_What was it?_

_Another med bot? No… That'd be copying Tada-nii…_

_Maid bot? Aunt Cass'd kill me…._

_Cook?_

… _Baymax would hug me…._

Hiro grimaced he knew it was none of those things. It was something… Something he had thought of when he had started constructing Kokoro. It was just lost in the minutiae of all the errors.

He had his head down so he didn't see where he was walking…

THUD!

"OW!"

"OOF!"

He fell back grimacing as he collided with the concrete. The girl he had bumped into hissed as she rubbed her knee where it had collided with the stone. "S-Sorry-Wait…"

The girl looked up. "Tryin' to kill me Hiro?"

Hiro put his hand to his face as he realized it was Kathleen who he had bumped into and blushed a bit. _Smooth Hiro… SMOOTH._

"Wow that's one for the books… And me without my phone." Tadashi whispered grinning a bit as Hiro was forced to bite his tongue unable to give a come back.

_Screw you Tada-nii…. _He thought as he got up, offering Kathleen a hand. "I'm sorry about that Kat, no harm was intended."

"It's okay, my fault too." She took his hand pulling herself up. She looked around them at the books and papers that were scattered. "Oh no…"

"Here I'll help."

Hiro knelt with her as they gathered up the items. "Where's your backpack?"

"The strap broke!"

"Geeze…" Hiro shook his head picking up his share of the items. "Where did it break at?"

"Four blocks ago!"

"Yikes…"

Kathleen nodded as she got the last of her items together. "I think that's all of it…"

"I got a good chunk of it too…. C'mon we'll get ya a spare from SFIT." Hiro started to walk back looking back at her when she didn't follow. "What?"

"But I'm not…"

"We got students who frequently carry acid literal acid like the kind that melts through wood on a regular basis in their backpacks so we just got a surplus of extra. It's no trouble." Hiro smiled gesturing for her to follow.

She fell in step behind him face burning red. _This is so humiliating… _

"You okay?"

"E-Eh?"

"You hit the ground hard."

"Just a scrape or two. I'm fine."

"Alright…" He shook his head. _Her luck is just bad sometimes…_

Everyone perked up as Hiro came in, their eyes all getting a curious look when they saw Kathleen. Kathleen took notice right away, cowering a little bit behind Hiro, her hand on one of his arms.

"It's okay." He gave her a reassuring look. "They don't bite."

Baymax looked over to her, his scans picking up her injury.

"She has sustained a mild epidermal abrasion on her knee. May I examine her and treat her?"

Hiro looked to Kathleen. "You okay with that while I get you a back pack?"

Kathleen nodded. "Y-Yeah… I know Baymax… I'm fine with that."

Hiro nodded, hurrying off as Baymax went over to her, treating her. Everyone looked at each other, all curious about her.

"Never seen her before." Wasabi whispered. "Have you?"

"Nope." Gogo murmured. "I would remember if Hiro had a girl."

"My question is why didn't he tell us!?" Fred whisper/yelled.

Honey made her way over to Kathleen, sitting down to her level.

"Hello there."

Kathleen jumped a little. "H-Hello…" She murmured shyly.

Honey giggled. "It's okay, don't need to be jumpy. I'm Honey Lemon. What's your name?"

"Kathleen… C-Coleman." She replied looking her over. _She seems familiar… _

"That's a beautiful name, matches you." Honey smiled gently. "May I ask how you know Hiro?"

Kathleen smiled. "I've known him since I was a kid… His aunt and my mother are friends… We just sort of clicked when we met and we were friends ever since… I go to the cafe every day too…"

"I see… He's never mentioned you before so I was just curious."

"G-Got it… He's just always been there…" She shrugged a bit. "I can see why…. I don't really mention him to my friends either… I like having something that's just for me to know…"

"I hear ya… well it's nice to meet you Kathleen." Honey looked to the others who all came forward to have a look at her. "And these are my other friends and Hiro's. Wasabi, Gogo, Fred and our odd but good guest, Immortal 7."

"Hey."

"Welcome to the nerd lab."

Tadashi nodded to her.

Kathleen looked at them all surprised. "N-Nice to meet you all…" She lowered her head a little. _Curse this shyness…_

Wasabi took notice. "Okay let's give the poor girl some space, I think we're overloading her."

"She is showing small signs of discomfort." Baymax chimed in, patting her head. "It is alright Kathleen."

She relaxed a little. "Thanks… Sorry just a little overload… Lot of new things at once…"

"We can understand, college is always full of surprises." Honey gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Are you in high school Kathleen?"

She nodded. "Yep. Second year, been just trying my best... It can get really stressful… Usually those days I wind up eating a ton of chocolate…" She got a sheepish look. "Ms. Cass can make a killer chocolate cake."

"Oh I can agree." Fred's mouth was watering a little. "Oh that sounds good."

"Yeah but we're not off the hook for a few more hours." Gogo shoved him a little. "So deal."

Kathleen giggled a bit. "Sounds like my sister…"

"Well, if you ever need help with anything you can talk to us. We've been through the course" Wasabi gave a gentle look. "and a friend of Hiro's is a friend of ours."

"Yeah just come to us. No need to suffer."

Kathleen smiled a bit giving a nod. "I'd like that… Thank you."

"I'm back~"

Hiro came in, a back back similar to Kathleen's in tow except in a blue color.

Kathleen's eyes lit up as she jumped up. "You found one! Thank you Hiro!"

Hiro smiled, handing it to her. "No problem Kat. What are friends for right?"

She smiled as she started to put her books in it. "Yeah, got each others backs… Still appreciate it…"

"Well this one should hold better than your old one but if you need another you know where to look… and I see you've met my friends."

"Yeah… They've been talking with me while I was waiting for you. They're nice." She nodded to them.

"Yeah, you didn't tell us you had a girlfriend." Gogo smirked.

Both teens turned bright red.

"P-PARDON!?" Kathleen squeaked.

"G-Gogo! It's nothing like that! We've been friends since childhood!"

"Ahuh… Suuuure… Nothing like that…"

"He's right! I-I mean he-he's awesome of course but he's my friend!" _And I'm so plain… He's amazing… _

"Hey Baymax." Fred snickered. "Diagnosis?"

Baymax held up a finger. "Diagnosis: embarrassment!"

"HEY!" They both yelled.

"Alright alright let's lay off the poor kids." Tadashi said, giving a wave of his hand. _Doing this because I love you bro._

"Thank you, Immortal 7." Hiro put his face in his right hand shaking his head. "Geeze you guys are as bad as my Aunt." _And my brother. _

Kathleen fidgeted trying to hide how much she was blushing. _I'm gonna be red as a pepper for the rest of the day! I need to get outta here._

"I-I need… I need to go." Kathleen picked up her bag, giving a bow. "Sorry just…. homework… bye!" she hurried out.

"Aww…. And without a nickname too."

"Fred she's off limits!" Hiro shook his head. "Great… Now it's awkward."

"You two have really known each other for that long?" Honey asked, curious.

Hiro nodded. "Yep. I think we first met when I was… Lessee… Three and a half. I was figuring out stuff pretty fast so one day me and Tadashi were just goofing around with one of his robot kits making mods to it and she just went over and sat down with us watching… Then we got to talking… I showed her the spider walk and freaked Tadashi out… And it's just been like that ever since... " He shrugged. "We went to the same elementary school for a bit but then I started jumping grades so we didn't have much time at school to hang out. So it was always the cafe or her house."

"I see."

_On top of that I was friends with her two siblings. _Tadashi thought. _Ah… childhood, seems so long ago._

Hiro nodded. "Yeah. She has two older siblings too. Her older brother's twenty one and her sister's nineteen. Tadashi hung out with them and Kat hung around me… She kept me out of some trouble but…" He smirked. "Come on do you guys believe for five seconds I wasn't finding SOMETHING?"

"Eh we're not too shocked." Wasabi chuckled. "I think the only thing we're shocked about is we've never heard of this Kathleen or her family from either you or Tadashi."

"Yeah where were you hiding her?" Fred asked ruffling Hiro's hair a bit. "I mean I know your room was a disaster but-"

"Hey!" Hiro tried to smooth his hair down. "I guess we just never thought of it. They were around us all the time and Tadashi was of course worried about college classes and Baymax probably gave him a concussion a few times… So we just never thought of it." He shrugged. "And well… They've been around for so long I guess I thought I brought her up…"

"Makes sense…. still though, cute girl, I like her hair." Honey giggled. "It's all nice and wavy."

Hiro chuckled. "You should see her stress 'do. Tight bun when she's freaking out since she can't stand having it in her face. Her sister and mom like playing with her hair."

"Well they do a good job." Gogo chuckled. "Ah stress of high school I do not miss it. College life is the real life."

"Heck yeah. It wasn't a challenge." Hiro shrugged. "High school was easy."

All of them looked at Hiro with an unimpressed look before grinning, looking to each other before saying in unison.

"NERD!"

"HEY!" Hiro yelled… Before smirking. "I resemble that remark."

"Eh, can't win… but still…" Fred rubbed his hands together. "Dark brown hair, pale blue eyes, she's a keeper."

Hiro blushed. "Guys… C'mon it's not like that!"

"Alright enough with Hiro's love life, I think last I checked you all got projects you need to do." Tadashi crossed his arms. "Right?"

"Fiiine. We'll torment him later." Fred said as he went back to his couch, the others going back to their stations.

"Thank you." Hiro sighed in relief as he made his way back to his own lab looking at Kokoro who was standing on it's base warily. "One of these days bub… You are gonna work and you are gonna be awesome… And you're gonna be NICE to me."

As if to mock him it fell right over.

"... Aw come on!"

Tadashi shook his head.

_Like older brother like younger brother…_


	3. Knights

"So you got a fancy SFIT backpack from your boyfriend…"

"S-Stop that! He's not my boyfriend!"

Kathleen was walking from school to the monorail station with some of her friends from school. The other girls were teasing her about her new backpack as she tried to keep ahead of them. "You guys are too much!"

"Hey not every day a college student asks one of us girls to come with him to his special high tech school."

"We didn't do anything besides me getting patched up by his healthbot and he got me a new backpack because mine broke. I didn't watch a movie, or fall asleep in his arms... " She blushed furiously at the thought. _Sure wouldn't mind though…. _ "Just… Leave me alone!"

"Aww! Our friend is growing up so fast." one them squealed a little. "Who is he anyway?"

"I think I know." said another. "I've only heard of one child prodigy in San Fransokyo and who has a nursebot. Hiro Hamada."

The others gasped.

"You know HIM?!"

Kathleen gave a small shrug. "Yeah… So? He's like one of my best friends…"

"I'm so jealous!" One of them sighed. "I've heard he's really cool and has quite the mind."

"Now now Kailey I thought you liked that bad boy of yours?"

The girl, Kailey, shrugged. "I do, I love him a lot… But of course Hiro's in a league of his own… And… My dad might not want to murder him."

"Pfft! Not want to murder him? Any dad in his right mind is reaching for his shot gun or a kitchen knife as soon as his daughter looks at a guy!" Another laughed.

"And what about you Shiloh? Your self proclaimed knight?"

"W-Well…"

Kathleen rolled her eyes a little giggling. "Alright guys, first off, Hiro is incredibly intelligent… He was skipping grades before I was even riding a bike. He's also nice…. Kind…" She got a wistful look in her eyes. "Funny… And he's got this little gap in his teeth that makes him look soo cute when he smiles-" She stopped herself as she turned red noticing the grins the other girls got. "But I don't like him like that!" She exclaimed a bit too loudly.

"Diagnosis girls?"

"DENIAL!"

Kathleen blushed more as she lowered her head. "Guuuuys!"

"She really is growing up, eh Annabelle?"

"Agreed Elly!"

The girls laughed giving Kathleen a few playful nudges. "You're gonna be marrying him one day I bet!"

"GUYS!"

"Now girls…" Kailey smirked. "He has to get past her daddy. Our guys will have to… But at least ours will probably make it past the front door."

"My dad knows Hiro thank you!"

"HA!"

"Wait-"

"Ah Kathleen, you're so blind when it comes to love. You got a lot to learn." Elly shook her head. "You're so crushing."

Kathleen turned brighter red. "W-Well, what about your papa? Have you brought a boy home to meet him yet!?"

"Yeah and my dad's fine with the fact I'm dating a comic book writer. Long as he doesn't break my heart he's in the clear."

"Yeah and my dad's cool with it too. He likes Caleb and so does my mother… And to be honest, I think my mother would be the worst contender." Annabelle giggled. "Demon lady of the hospital."

Kailey shook her head. "Yeeeaaaah…. Angry doctor parents or doctor and nurse parents in Anna's case… Not a good combo if our guys screw up."

"And my dad's a bonafide redneck…" Shiloh muttered. "And I have brothers."

"Well Charlie and my dad wouldn't-Gaaaah!"

Elly patted her back. "There there. You'll figure it out-"

"MONORAIL TO DOWNTOWN SAN FRANSOKYO NOW APPROACHING."

"Oop, looks like our ride is here."

_Oh thank you whatever high power there is out there! _Kathleen thought, relief coming over her.

"Aww and just when we were getting to the good part!"

The girls paid for their tickets and boarded the monorail taking their seats or in some cases standing and holding onto the poles.

"So you guys hear that Alex won the track meet?"

"He wins everything if he's running!"

"Probably all that time running from Dr. Keller!"

"Hey Elly, how is Royden doing with that comic of his?"

"It's coming along, he says he'll have another issue of Captain Eagle published soon."

"Oh that's awesome!" Shiloh grinned. "And my guy is going for the national fencing competition. Big deal, with college scouts and everything."

"Well it is Taylor…" Kailey smirked. "He'll do anything if you're cheering him on… What did he say when he saw you in that uniform for the first time?"

"You're keeping that." They all laughed as Shiloh turned red.

"Oh shut up! A-Anyways… I'm also going for the gymnastics meet later this year… Whole team's getting ready."

"Aren't they all totally psychotic-Oh wait… That explains it-"

WHACK!

"OW!"

"So says team manager KAILEY."

_Ah I love listening to these conversations. The joys of being single sometimes. You don't get targeted. _Kathleen giggled.

"Well it sounds like all the knights are doing well."

"Yep! The Knights of San Fransokyo."

"Yeah… Caleb's doing good too… His novel the Star Prince is almost done… He's hoping to get it published soon…" Annabelle smiled proudly. "He's been so happy with it… Of course I'm sworn to secrecy of what it's about…"

"Well if he needs help with publishing he can ask Royden for advice since he does it all the time." Elly giggled. "He knows the system."

"I'll make sure to tell him." Annabelle giggled. "He's just happy with a lot… It takes a lot to get him down…"

"Gosh how long has it been since he got that cornea transplant of his… Three, four years?"

"Yep and he's looking at things always on the bright side. He's really glad he can see now."

"Things that can really change perspective." Kathleen hummed in thought. "But that's life."

"Yup… Everyone's got something…"

"Yeah…" Shiloh sighed looking out the window. "Me and my twin were conjoined twins and now I'm a gymnast and she's on the debate team…"

"And you two fight like cats and dogs!"

"She goes to a rival school of COURSE that happens! But I'd still take a bullet for her!"

"You're awesome like that." Elly giggled. "I know my brothers would probably do the same."

"I'd do the same for Adrian… Though I think anyone who wanted to hurt him would be cut into pieces before I could do anything." Kailey cringed remembering one incident. "That kid must never be left alone with watermelons…"

Before they could respond there was a loud screech of metal on metal as the passengers were flung forwards or back from how hard the monorail moved… As it tilted right off of the track.

"ACK!"

"WHOA!"

"DON'T LET GO OF YOUR SEAT!"

Kathleen and her friends hung on looking around in panic as their row was part of the section that was hanging right off of the track threatening to go down at any moment.

"Oh man…" Elly whispered, clinging tightly to her seat.

"This is bad…" Kathleen whimpered a little. "Really, really bad!"

"Nobody panic… No one. Move." Shiloh hung onto the bar she was holding onto with one arm as Kailey hung to her legs almost going towards the front from the force. "Capiche?"

All of them nodded.

"C-Capiche."

"Good…"

There was another screech as it lurched forward a bit as the girls yelped and kept holding on. "My dad is SO gonna sue this station…" Kailey deadpanned. "If he doesn't kill 'em first! Who checked this!?"

"Hey think of how sympathetic the guys'll be!"

"I'm just hoping Papa doesn't possibly have a heart attack after this."

"I know one thing… I'm probably never taking the monorail after this." Kathleen sighed. "Back to the good ol' bike."

"Good idea, exercise is always a nice option."

"I wonder if it's too late to ask my dad for a steamroller…" Kailey mused.

"If it keeps you from this I'm sure he'd hand over the money and say buy a car."

"That'll be the day." They deadpanned.

Kailey sighed. "Yep…"

"I know one thing… After this I'm bugging my dad about fixing his motorcycle…"

"Shiloh… Wasn't that the one that you crashed and broke your wrist AND broke Mel's collarbone with?"

"... We were young and stupid."

"That's what they all say." Elly rolled her eyes chuckling.

"The only thing missing from this is some handsome guys coming to the rescue."

SHINK!

All looked to see a laser blade cutting through one of the doors before it was pulled away, a young man in a green set of armor dropping in along with a blue lizard like thing, and a guy in a set of white armor with a tinted visor. They knew very well who they were.

"Big Hero 6!" Elly cheered.

"Yes!" Annabelle cheered.

"Dude I totally called that!" Shiloh grinned.

"Alright, Immortal 7, H-5… Let's get to work."

"Roger that."

Immortal 7 lead the way, allowing them access to the girls by walking on energy gears he was generating.

"We're gonna get you out of here, just stay calm." he instructed as he took Elly into his arms.

"We're pretty calm already. Just y'know… Hanging." Shiloh remarked.

The girls cringed at just how corny that sounded.

"Shiloh… I'm gonna whack you when we're out of this." Kailey commented.

The green armored hero shook his head as he picked up Shiloh and Kailey. "Got ya."

"Thank you."

"Dude, totally called it. Getting rescued by heroes? Made my week."

The team continued to work, getting passengers out.

Out of her group Kathleen was the only one left.

_Do I speak up? No, no keep quiet… Calm… It's not like this stuff doesn't happen… _

"There's one other girl down there. Anyone open?"

"I am, I'll be in and out. H-2, let's do this."

Soon, a young man in purple armor came in, riding on a robot dressed in red and purple armor. They flew over to Kathleen.

"Let's get you out of there."

The young man offered a hand to her.

She took his hand as he pulled her onto the robot with him. "W-Whoa..!" _Big Hero 6… Being saved by Big Hero 6…. And not just that but this is H-1…_

H-1 looked at her for a moment, his eyes widening for a moment before they became focused again. "Hang on." He said, keeping a good hold on her. "Let's fly."

The robot flew them out, heading to where everyone else was.

"Nice job kid." A woman in yellow armor commented as the robot landed.

H-1 shrugged as he helped Kathleen down. "Just doing my job H-3."

Kathleen sighed in relief as she landed on solid ground. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome. You okay? Nothing broken?"

"Nope, I'm fine. Honest."

"Good." H-1 sighed in relief.

Kathleen nodded. "Thanks again… I better make sure my friends are okay…" She gave a quick bow before running over to where her friends were. "Guys!"

"Kat!" They hugged her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah!"

"Good… BECAUSE H-1 FREAKING RESCUED YOU!"

"You got ride on H-2's back! That's so cool! What was it like?!"

Kathleen shrugged a bit. "It was cool… I was just glad to be out of there. H-1 held onto me so I wouldn't fall off…" She blushed a bit.

The girls were silent before they all squealed.

"LUCKY!"

"Seriously!"

"Jealous!"

Kathleen shook her head, looking back, seeing the team take off.

_Immortal 7… wait… I … I've seen him before! He was the guy at the lab!_

Kailey looked at her friend some concern in her eyes. "You okay? You look like you saw a ghost…"

"I… I've met one of them… That Immortal 7 guy… I… I've met him… he… he was at SFIT."

"Weird…" Kailey murmured. "Think he's a student there? Or… I dunno would it be weird to call it his Batcave?"

"He was fully armored there too… reason I recognized him despite the tinted visor… I… I'm genuinely confused now…"

"Eh I wouldn't dwell on it too much." Elly commented. "You question a hero too much and they just give you a headache. Royden gave me that advice."

"Noted… So… How do you think telling this story to our parents is gonna go?"

They all looked at each other in silence before speaking.

"DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

_Yep… Just the rule of the world… _

oooooo

"Remind me never to take the monorail again Nii-san. That's the third time this year…" Hiro sighed as he got out of his armor in the garage, slipping back into his casual clothes. "They really need to fix that track."

Tadashi made sure no one else was around before letting his armor fade off. "Yeah no kidding… Feels like they're getting lazy with maintenance on some things."

"Anyone else feel like they just use us for damage control? "Oh no don't fix that, if something happens Big Hero 6 will come and fix it all for free! No money spent on us!" Ha…" Hiro commented as he ran a hand through his hair. _Still get helmet hair too…_

"Maybe I need to invest some time into haunting them into fixing it and besides, Wasabi had to cut the doors open this time around, I'm pretty sure they'll want to fix it this time."

"Remember the cable car? That one went off track last time too but they never fixed the hole… Something about "BIG HERO 6 WAS HERE." was painted on top of it near the hole!"

Tadashi shook his head. "It's starting to sound like they just do it on purpose… Yes, we step up to the plate to protect people but now that's just being stupid if they just want to make news. Those girls we rescued handled the situation well but they still had a good chance of getting seriously injured."

"Or killed… And I don't think you want any Remembered friends THAT young."

"No I do not… and not to mention someone I already know." Tadashi looked to Hiro. "I saw Kat too just FYI."

"Yeah…" Hiro sighed. "Kat handled herself well… Heck I think she and those girls she was with handled it better than some of the adults on that thing… But man she was shaking like crazy when I pulled her onto Baymax… She was calm but she was scared…"

"Aftershock, her body finally taking the toll of everything that was happening. I'm glad we got there in time."

"Me too… If they don't fix the freaking monorail after this mess, I'm gonna sneak in there late at night and do it myself! Least she didn't put two and two together… But it's pretty clear she recognized YOU."

"Well she saw me at SFIT and I'm always walking around in my armor when it comes to broad daylight, it's not something I can help unless I find a major loophole in my contract or I some how learn to change my appearance."

Hiro knew he was going to get whacked but he couldn't resist what came out next.

"Tadashi…" He started with a mock sympathetic look. "I know you think you're that pretty but you're not-"

WONK!

Tadashi caught an energy gear as it came flying back. "You were saying?"

"OW! That's it! No rice candy for you!"

"Fine, I'll just take your gummy bears and feed them to my friend's niece."

Hiro got a horrified look. "You wouldn't DARE!"

"My rice candy is at stake. I would."

"Alright deal. I won't touch your gross rice candy and you leave my gummy bears alone!"

"Deal… though I admit… it would be interesting to be able to create something that could disguise me so I wouldn't need my armor on all the time."

"I'll look into it. Maybe me and Honey can brainstorm something." Hiro mused. "... Besides I did want to make something to cover Kokoro's inner workings so he'll be more human… I'll play with that…"

"I'd appreciate that, I'd stick out less at SFIT. I'm really glad no one questions me regardless but still…"

"We share a building with Fred. Any arguments are invalid by default."

"Yeah that and they just look at me as another school mascot kind of thing."

"Least no one's mistaken you for the San Fran Knights' mascot. Then they'd be stealing ya in claims of manliness or something."

"Or try to swipe my helmet and then… crack." Tadashi shook his head. "Yeah, maybe making a disguise thing soon would be great."

"I'll add it to my to do list bro. I mean it." Hiro hugged him. "I know you miss taking classes and stuff…"

".. You… think I could possibly lead somewhat of a normal life again if I did have something like that?"

"I don't see why not. You just need to not look exactly like you… We'll go through family albums and stuff. We'll make you look like a cousin or something."

"That'd be fantastic…" Tadashi leaned back in a chair, sighing a bit. "I don't mind my new life… just… I had one I wanted to follow through…"

"We'll think of something…" Hiro hopped up onto his work table leaning back. "I'll figure something out bro… Plus I bet Honey would like to have a normal date for once…"

"No kidding. She doesn't mind but… I'd like to treat her to something and not have to hide."

"Like I said… I'll do my best… And when you take her out to a good scary movie so she'll cling to ya you'll be thanking me."

Tadashi chuckled. "Darn right."

Hiro smiled. "Yep… For now…" He sighed. "Beat poetry night awaits… I think some of these guys forget that just because you tell something into a microphone that it actually has to rhyme… Or make sense."

"Oi… yeah… Hey, are you gonna check on Kat? Just curious."

Hiro held up his phone. "Doing that now." He said as he hopped down and dialed her number. "Just hope she picks up… I haven't checked to see if she was in the cafe yet since we just got back…"

"Got ya, just want to be sure she's holding up alright."

"I do too… If I have to I will drag her here and we can sick Baymax's medicinal wrath on her-"

"Hello?"

"There she be."

Hiro nodded. "Kat?"

"Hiro?" She asked before sighing in relief. "Glad to hear a familiar voice… My parents are kind of clinging right now since there was an accident on the monorail… I was on it… Did you hear about that?"

"Yeah… Oh gosh you were on that thing? Goodness…."

_Looks like all those role playing nights with Fred are paying off. _Tadashi smirked. _Hiro's good at acting._

"Yeah… I'm not hurt just really shaken up… I can't even focus on my homework. My hand's shaking too much…" Kat sounded tired as she spoke. "It's just been a long day…"

Hiro frowned a little. "Oh Kat… Hey, why don't you come over like old times? I'm working on some stuff in the garage and well… could use some company."

"Can we listen to old world rock and eat donuts?"

"Yeah and maybe some Fall Out Boy too."

"On my way just gotta give my folks a heads up."

"Alright… see you soon."

"See you…" She hung up.

"Aww… My little bro's got a date…"

"Oh shut up."


	4. Like Old Times

_Okay photo albums check… Kokoro DEACTIVATED, check… sweets and music… check._

Hiro was waiting patiently in the garage, drumming his fingers a little as he thought over ideas going through his mind.

_Not a headband cause then that would just look silly…. not a clip on… maybe a watch…? Yeah watch could work. Just a need way for it to generate an image… maybe I could use that energy Tadashi has in him to my advantage when it comes to his disguise… Hm… I'll just have to see what happens with Kokoro…_

There was a knock on the garage door.

"There be demon boys in there?"

"Something like that." Hiro turned around to the entry way.

Kathleen was standing there, holding a six pack of coke as she made her way over to Hiro. She set it down before hugging him. "Sorry just… Need this for a second…"

Hiro was caught off guard by this, his arms spread out a little before they came around her.

"That bad huh?"

"You know the part of it that was hanging off the track? … Guess where I was."

His eyes widened.

"Oh Kat…"

"Yeah…" She hugged him a little tighter. "Me and my girl friends were on that part of the train… Couple of us were hanging onto the poles… Well… One. The other was holding onto her… We didn't get hurt but… It was just scary."

Hiro stroked her back, recalling Baymax and Tadashi doing the same thing with him whenever he got scared.

"It's over now… you're safe…"

Kathleen relaxed a little. "Thanks Hiro…" She pulled back after a moment. "So… Shall we?"

"Yeah." He went over to his desk, offering her a donut. "Chocolate, your favorite."

She perked up grinning a little as she took it. "Guy after my own heart." She joked before blushing as she realized what she said. _DID I JUST SAY THAT!?_

Hiro chuckled a little rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ehehe… I just know you like the stuff… also if you need more hugs-"

Before she knew it, Kathleen was caught in an embrace by Baymax.

"Baymax… kind of just hands them out for free."

Kathleen giggled hugging the nursebot. "I don't mind… I like his hugs."

"You will be alright." Baymax said, patting her head. "There, there."

"You two are the best…" She smiled sighing a little. "I feel better already."

"Good." Hiro sat down in his chair, munching on a donut as he looked over some of the sketches he had drawn. "Hrm…"

Kathleen sat down in the chair beside him looking at the sketches tilting her head. "What's all those for…?"

"Well the robot I'm working on, I want him to have a more human like appearance so I'm trying to develop something that will do that… it's also for a friend of mine."

"Huh… That'd be pretty cool... " She mused. "... Immortal 7?"

"What made you think of that guy?"

"Because in broad daylight and near the end of summer at that he's wearing that armor."

Hiro thought for a moment, thinking how he would explain that… then something came to him.

"Yeah… ya see… he… got caught in a fire and suffered some pretty bad burns… so he really doesn't like showing himself to anyone so the armor just kind of stays on 24/7."

"Aww… Poor baby…" She frowned. "Well remind me next time I see him at SFIT to give him a hug."

Hiro chuckled. "Sure… I just want to get this disguise thing figured out as soon as possible." Hiro opened one of the photo albums, looking through them. "I just need something to work with…"

She looked at the pictures curious. "Hm… Well… Hrm… That's a tough thing since he could look like anyone…"

"I think the main thing he would want is brown eyes and dark hair since that's what he has."

"... Well… If it wouldn't upset you… I'd make his disguise inspired by Tadashi…" She pointed to one of the pictures showing Tadashi along with Kathleen's siblings posing in front of the camera. "Not totally like him since gotta respect the dead and all… But something to work from."

"Yeah… that could work… Hm… just need to make tweaks…" He pulled out a sheet of paper, bringing it over the photo, tracing over Tadashi's face before moving it away. "Let's see… just change the hair a little…"

"Maybe keep the ears a little smaller…"

"Yeah that too… Glasses maybe?"

"Yes! But no mustaches! No girl around here thinks that's hot."

"He doesn't either. So no mustaches… Glasses… Tweak the hair.." Hiro murmured as he sketched biting the tip of his pencil as he thought it over. _I want him to look like he'll still be my brother… But not exactly like Tada-nii… _

Kathleen kept quiet munching on a donut as she watched him sketch. It always impressed her how fast Hiro could draw especially when he was moving with purpose.

Hiro finished the first sketch doing a few more from different angles. "Lessee… Heh… He'll really look like a nerd…"

"Your obsession with nerds will never cease to amaze me."

"Hey I always said I was the pretty one."

_He never changes… _ She thought smiling a bit. _I'm glad to see him happy… Even if he's going crazy on the paper… _

Hiro looked at what he had before pinning it to the board and tearing out a new sheet of paper starting to sketch ideas for how to manifest it. To bring it out. "Lessee… Clip on would look weird… Headband, brings back flashbacks…. Hrm… Watch…? Maybe…" He mumbled as he drew.

"Um…. Can I suggest something?" Kathleen asked as Hiro looked to her. "Or at least put my two cents in."

"Fire away." He slid it over to her. "Take your pick."

She looked at the sketches ranging from what looked like a hearing aid to… Was that a helmet? "Hiro you watch Back to the Future too much… This is the mind reading hat!"

"Sorry, thought the concept was good."

"... Personally I'd feed your gummy bears to Mochi if you asked me to wear that." She deadpanned.

He got a mock horrified look and hugged his bag of gummy bears. "Don't touch my children!"

She giggled before turning serious again as she grabbed his pencil circling her favorite. "I think the watch would be best. And it'd be discreet."

Hiro looked at it and nodded to himself. "Alright… Now comes the fun part… Remember how to operate the printer?"

She smirked. "Does Ms. Cass stuff her face when you worry her?"

"You know it!"

They jumped up as Hiro got to work Kathleen helping as she turned on the printer when he asked. When he really got into it she stood out of the way as he jetted from computer, to computer propelled by his desk chair.

"... He's a little scary when he gets that smirk on his face."

"... Indeed." Baymax replied standing with her. "But he is happy."

"Good…" She smiled. "That's what we want for him… Right?"

"Right."

About half way they turned on music as they worked. They jammed as they worked, drumming their fingers or doing air guitar from time to time as they sang along to the song… Baymax bobbing his head, trying to join in on the fun.

"We could be Immortals! Immortals!"

"Just not for long for loooong!"

"And live with me forever now, pull the black out curtains down!"

"Just not for long, for looong we could be immoooortals immortals! immoooooortals immortals!"

They did an air guitar as the song came to an end. Kathleen laughed sitting back on her chair. "That… was awesome!"

"Ah yeah! and look how much we got done!" Hiro held up the device in question. It just had a few loose wires that needed to be hooked in and it would hopefully be ready to go.

Kathleen smiled. "He's gonna love it Hiro…. And who knows you may be onto something."

"Like what?"

"Well… Think about it… How many people are willing to do stuff, even stuff that'll hurt themselves just so they can look different?"

"You got a point there… though this isn't really for pretty purposes… Immortal 7 just wants to be able to walk around without people looking at him weird because of his burns."

"Well… That's part of what I meant Hiro…. It could help a lot of people like him."

"True… Well, gotta test this thing before I show it to him." He looked over to Kokoro.

Kathleen got a nervous look as she moved her chair back. "You're gonna activate it?"

"No, I don't wanna take risks, I'm just gonna test the mechanism on him. Ya know, like a shell."

"Got it… I'm just gonna stay here… Next to the broom… Just in case."

Hiro nodded going over to the robot, putting the watch on.

"Okay… this is test 1 of the disguise bracelet…. well actually test 5 since we did some pretests but for a full out test…" Hiro took a deep breath, turning the knob on the watch.

_Please work… _

Kokoro's appearance changed as it took on the appearance of the man in the sketch, the eyes closed for now due to being deactivated.

Kathleen watched wide eyed. "Whoa…"

"It works…" Hiro whispered.

"IT WORKS!" Kathleen jumped up hugging him. "It works!"

Hiro laughed hugging her back, spinning her around.

"IT WORKS! IT REALLY WORKS!"

She laughed squealing a bit. "Hiro this is AMAZING!"

"Yes haha! I can't wait to see the look on Immortal 7's face when he sees this!"

"He'll love it!"

Hiro chuckled setting her down before going to retrieve the bracelet turning the knob as Kokoro returned to it's initial appearance. "Yeah… This is great!" He bumped Kokoro by mistake as he straightened it… Hitting the on switch. "... Oh crud…"

"Oh crud what!?"

Hiro backed up with the bracelet as Kokoro's optics blinked looking at the two before reaching out for Hiro with both hands.

"Oh crud as in IT'S ACTIVE!"

"Oh…. MAN!" Kathleen scrambled for the closest broom, hiding behind Baymax.

Hiro ran around the room as Kokoro scrambled after him.

"Seriously Hiro, what is this robot supposed to do again?!"

"I CAN'T REMEMBER DANGIT!"

It was a few laps around the garage before Kathleen gave a hard swing with her broom, knocking Kokoro flat on its back.

Hiro quickly deactivated the robot before flopping on the floor. "Whew… Pretty sure that's never happened before…. I mean I know Tadashi had to deal with bouts of Baymax hugging him… Or Honey Lemon and not wanting to let go but… Kokoro's just wanted to beat me senseless…"

"This robot has daddy issues or something."

"He knows Megabot's Daddy's favorite." Hiro rolled his eyes. "This is why he went into the crate for a year!"

"And maybe he should for another year or so till you can finally remember what he's supposed to do."

"Kathleen… This is the longest he's actually moved those legs besides the few feet it took to try to throw me out of the window… This is progress!"

"... If by progress you mean a robot secretly planning to murder you?"

"... Self learning?"

"... You worry me sometimes…. and listen to me I'm starting to sound like my older siblings."

Hiro chuckled squeezing her shoulder. "I'll be fine. What's the worse that can happen?"

Kathleen got a mortified look. "Hiro… think about what you just said."

Hiro blinked before it dawned on him. "Oh… OH!" He gave Kokoro a fearful look. "... I think we have some bungee cables around here…. Wanna help me tie him up?"

"...You can't pay me to go near it."

"Pleeeeease?" He threw in a pout.

"Ack!" Kathleen tried looking away. "Hiro Hamada I am stone, I am a tiger I do not fall for-"

He whimpered a little his eyes getting big.

"I promise chocolate ice cream."

"Okay, okay call off the look! CALL IT OFF!" She squeaked covering her eyes. "I CAN'T TAKE IT!"

Hiro cheered before hugging her.

"You're the best!"

She blushed before hugging him. "Hey you're my friend… Now let's tie the psycho bot up before it gets more ideas."

"Right away."


	5. Honorary Nerd

_And he never came to bed… _Tadashi thought as he got up, noticing Hiro's bed was empty. _Must've fallen asleep in the garage doing whatever it was he was doing…_

Tadashi shifted to his orb form flying on down through the floor to the garage. He looked around stopping short as he shifted back to his normal form. There he saw Hiro and Kathleen out cold, using Baymax as a cushion to lean against.

Hiro mumbled a bit in his sleep shifting as Kathleen's head moved landing on his shoulder. He relaxed resting his head against hers.

"Aww…" Tadashi whipped out his phone, snapping a picture before looking to Baymax. "Morning big guy." he whispered.

"Good morning." Baymax replied voice quiet. "They've been asleep for awhile now… One of the few times Hiro willingly went to sleep…"

"What were they doing all night? And I'm surprised Kathleen didn't decide to go home since her parents would flip if she stayed out all night."

"They were working… Laughing… Enjoying themselves. There was a brief incident regarding Kokoro but they handled themselves fine… After they were talking and gradually drifted off. I did contact the Colemans on her behalf explaining that she was too fatigued to return home safely."

"Good… don't want them getting upset now…" Tadashi looked over to Hiro's work table, seeing what they had been working on. His eyes landed on the sketches that were mounted on the tack board. "That… looks kind of like me…"

"It was Kathleen's idea… To work from your image… Hiro explained it would be for you but he used your code name. He sketched from there… The bracelet is functional. I saw it myself."

Tadashi's eyes got wide. "He actually…"

If he could have Baymax would have smiled. He nodded. "Yes… He worked on it for a long time…"

Tadashi looked around the room, curious if he spot the device. Sure enough, he found the bracelet set on one of the desks picking it up.

"Watch bracelet… nice choice."

Baymax nodded. "He wanted it to be concealable in plain sight. You turn the knob to activate it."

Tadashi looked at it. "May I…?"

"I believe it is what Hiro would want."

Tadashi nodded before snapping it on. He glanced over to the pictures before looking back at the watch.

_Alright… let's try it…_

He closed his eyes, turning the knob, his appearance changing within an instant to the person he had seen on the sketches.

Baymax looked him over nodding his approval. "Very nice… It suits you."

Tadashi looked at himself before looking over to reflective surface.

"The glow is covered up too… and the clothes actually feel real too… I gotta ask him how he pulled this off, this is incredible."

"It is Hiro…"

"True… Hm… particle manipulation mixed with holographics if I had to guess… the watch sets up a framework then the framework manipulates particles around the person to get the desired appearance…"

"Yep… And in your case you will submit to the spiky haired empire…" A tired voice whispered.

Tadashi looked over to see Hiro was awake now. "Morning bed head."

Hiro smiled shaking his head. "Morning to you too… Like your present?"

"Very much… Hiro… this is amazing."

Hiro carefully moved Kathleen as Baymax took her into his arms. The boy stood up going over to his brother. "And there's more…. Some extra stuff I was working on before I started working on the watch itself…"

"That so?"

Hiro grinned before producing a file from one of the desk drawers holding it out to Tadashi. On top of it was the insignia for SFIT. "Tadashi Hamada… Or rather Takashi Hamada, cousin of Hiro Hamada newest robotics student at SFIT, transferred from MIT."

Tadashi's eyes got wide. "No way…"

Hiro grinned. "Way… With all your old majors including med and biotech."

Tadashi nearly dropped the file, but kept a grip on it as a grateful look came into his eyes.

"I'll… I'll have my life back again… I'll be a student and I'll be studying with you… Oh my gosh…"

"And… You can talk with all your friends again… You'll even get to graduate with us." Hiro smiled some tears in his eyes. "Like I rewound time back to that night…"

Tears welled in Tadashi's eyes as he put down the file, bringing his brother into an embrace.

"Hiro… I… thank you… thank you Otouto!"

Hiro hugged him tightly smiling. "Anything for you Nii-san… Enjoy this okay? I want you to chase after your dreams again… Just like you would've done for me."

"I will…" Tadashi nuzzled him. "I… My gosh I feel alive again…"

Hiro nuzzled back sighing in relief. "Good… There was a lot of thought put into it... I want you to feel as much as yourself as you can…"

"And this is perfect…" Tadashi sighed happily. "Being with my friends again is something I've wanted… well I have as Immortal 7 but it wasn't the same.. being a student again… having a normal life… this is a blessing…"

Hiro nodded. "It's huge… I'm so glad it works… And it'll keep working long as you take care of it…. Just hand it to me every Friday night so I can tune it up and make sure nothing's broken okay?"

"Will do." Tadashi embraced him again. "I look forward to studying along with you… thank you again for this Hiro."

"Anytime Tada-nii…." Hiro sighed happily nuzzling his brother. "Anything for you… I'm excited for this…"

"You and me both… When do I start class?"

Hiro grinned. "Monday morning."

"Awesome…" Tadashi looked over to Kathleen. "I guess I should thank her too… She helped right?"

"Yeah, she helped me with your looks and with getting the parts together. All those summers of having her man the 3D printer while we cooked some crazy stuff up came in handy." Hiro chuckled. "She said she was gonna hug you next time she saw you."

"Heh… well I'm open to it… But why? She doesn't know… ya know."

"I had to tell her a different story though technically I didn't lie. I said you had burns from a fire you got in and that was the reason you were in the armor all the time. To keep others from seeing it."

Tadashi nodded. "Got ya... Thanks kiddo…" He ruffled his hair. "I'm so proud of you…"

"Heh… I do my best."

"Mm…"

Both looked to see Kathleen stirring as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey Kat…" Hiro went over to her. "Rise and shine."

She yawned stretching a bit as she got out of Baymax's arms. "Hey…" She glanced around the room before she stopped, her eyes landing on Tadashi. "Is… that?"

"Immortal 7… Or as he prefers… Takashi." Hiro replied with a small grin.

Tadashi gave a wave. "Hello."

She smiled. "Hi… Oh look at you, you look amazing."

He gave a sheepish look. "Aw shucks… Thanks… And I have you and Hiro to thank for this… I can go without the armor now…"

Kathleen nodded before going over to him, hugging him.

"Sorry just I heard what happened. I'm happy for you Takashi."

Tadashi smiled hugging her back. _If you only knew who I actually was Kat.._

"It's alright, thank you for this Kat, I won't take this for granted."

"I know… I'm so happy for you… Congrats." She pulled back looking him over. "Amazing…"

"You're telling me." Tadashi looked at his reflection again, messing with his glasses a little. "Heh… did always think one day I'd need specs because of all the late nights in front of a computer."

Hiro smirked. "Felt it was high time you got them Clark Kent."

Tadashi ruffled his hair. "Very funny Iron Man."

Hiro chuckled. "Heh…"

Kathleen giggled. "Well alls well that ends well."

"Yep… and Kat, like the others said at the lab, if you need help with anything you can talk to me."

"That would be great… Oh shoot…" Kathleen hung her head. "What day is it?"

"Saturday." Baymax answered.

She sighed in relief. "Good… for a second I thought I biffed it with school… I got homework and stuff…"

"No worries." Hiro squeezed her shoulder. "Like Takashi said, he and I can help you out if you need it."

"And I'm eternally grateful…"

"What's got you stressed out?"

"Two science classes I'm taking… Chem… and Robotics."

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. "Is robotics required now for graduation?"

"No…" Kathleen sighed running her hand through her hair. "My siblings talked me into taking it as one of my elective courses… Specifically Alice since she said it would look good on my college applications… More well rounded you know?"

Hiro cringed. "Don't I know it…"

"Yeah and I suck at it… and chem is kicking my butt."

"Well…" Tadashi mused. "I was thinking of going to the lab today… and I do want to introduce myself… and we know a good chemist and a good robotics engineer that could help."

Hiro grinned. "Indeed we do… And I think there's only one price Honey would ask for…"

"What?" Kathleen asked a little nervously.

Hiro pointed to her hair. "She'll wanna play with that."

"O-Oh… Well… I'm okay with that… Just no scissors."

"Oh she'd never, she's got long hair that she rarely cuts." Tadashi shook his head. "Always keeps at the same length."

"She once said her hair was her first baby her chemicals came second." Hiro chuckled. "So you'd be in good hands… And she's of course the best chemist SFIT has to offer… And she's sweet too."

"Okay…" Kathleen smiled. "A study at SFIT it is."

oooooo

"Another new kid?" Wasabi poked his head around the corner seeing Tadashi walk in. "... or relative?"

Everyone else looked, all surprised.

"Who's this Hiro?" Gogo asked.

Hiro smiled gesturing to Tadashi. "This is my older cousin on my mom's side. His name's Takashi Hamada."

Tadashi gave a bow. "It's nice to meet all of you… I've transferred here from MIT to continue my studies and am staying with Hiro for the time being. I look forward to getting to know all of you." He looked over to Honey, giving a small wink.

She smiled returning it, having gotten a text from him earlier giving her m the heads up. "Well, welcome to SFIT Takashi."

"You will be nicknamed eventually…" Fred vowed pointing to him. "You and your little cuz too."

"Good luck with that Fred. Two years and nickname free." Hiro smirked.

"And look who's back." Wasabi chuckled taking note of Kathleen. "Hey there."

"Hey…" She smiled shyly. "I was thinking of taking that offer with needing help… Chemistry and robotics are not being too kind to me…"

"Ah…" Gogo gave a nod. "Well you're welcomed to our facilities… And our head chemist." She nodded to Honey with a small smirk. "And you already know our robotics geek."

"That's Prince of the Nerd Lab thank you!" Hiro shot back.

Tadashi shook his head. "Oh boy…"

Fred had his eyes on Kathleen, snapping his fingers. "You like sweets, right?"

"Um… yes?" Kathleen got a shy look again. "I have the worst sweet tooth according to my sister."

"Then I got just the nickname for you." Fred walked over to her, making a motion with his hand. "I hear by dub you… Kit Kat!"

"K-Kit Kat!?" She squeaked.

Hiro looked to her with a small grin. "I like it…"

"After the candy of course." Fred chuckled. "That is your name from now on in the nerd lab."

Kathleen blushed. "So much for being off limits… and I'm not even a student here."

"Honorary SFIT nerd." Hiro put an arm around her shoulders. "Just how it works."

Kathleen blushed more. "Ehehe… Y-Yeah."

"Alrighty, let's give the girl room to breathe." Gogo clapped her hands. "We all got projects and we all know that Saturday is usually when Mr. Wylie lets his lady run through here since most of us aren't here…. And I still need to get a video of that chick tackling Baymax."

"Eh?" Kathleen tilted her head. "Who?"

"Our teacher, Professor Wylie, he's got this rather… unusual girlfriend named Toshio who really likes Baymax. She kind of confiscates him sometimes just for hugging purposes."

"Unusual… how?"

They heard the door open as Hiro held up a hand. "In five… four… three…"

"EEEEE!"

Baymax was tackle hugged by a young woman with green hair, her voice having a robotic twinge to it as she hugged him. There was red glowing marks on her, looking like circuits.

"As in she's a robot… Like him."

Kathleen was dumb founded.

"Um… that's pretty weird… how….?"

Hiro shrugged. "I don't know… She's an AI of her own league as he puts it. He found her and fixed her up after she was nearly wrecked so she's been with him ever since… They just make it work… She's got her human side."

"I see."

"Yep." Gogo had her phone out. "And got it all on tape."

"Good morning Toshio." Baymax said, bringing his arms around her.

"Good morning Baymax!" Toshio squealed hugging him. "Kyaaa you're still adorable! I wish I could take you home!"

Hiro shook his head. "Here we go again…"

Honey went over to Kathleen. "Would you like to get started on your chemistry or would you want to do robotics first?"

"Um…" She hummed in thought. "I really should do chemistry first… I don't like having something nagging at me when I'm trying to do another thing… It drives me crazy…"

"Then we can get started right away."

"I can help if you like." Tadashi chimed in. "Not a professional but I can try."

"I'd like that." Kathleen smiled.

Behind her Hiro was smirking at Tadashi raising an eyebrow. _Already going back to Honey's station as per usual bro? Hehehe._

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "I know some bio chemistry so I can lend some help."

"All are welcome." Honey giggled leading them off. "Step into my office."

"Okay!"

"Ten bucks says Kit Kat makes a bomb." Gogo said quietly.

"Twenty says Honey gets them all coated in blue stuff." Fred challenged.

"Thirty says you two are gonna get smacked if I hear more of that." Hiro replied as he walked off to his station.

Fred was quiet before smirking. "Someone's a little touchy."

Gogo smirked. "We will manipulate that."

Hiro swore he felt a cold chill go down his spine. _Why do I feel worried?_

oooooo

"You're doing great Kathleen, you're really starting to nail the math formulas." Honey smiled as she got another equation done. "Lot of progress made within just an hour or two."

Kathleen smiled. "Thanks… You make a lot more sense than my teachers."

"I do my best." Honey giggled. "Alright, just a few more than we're done."

"Bring it on!"

Tadashi sat back and watched as he doodled away in his notebook. He couldn't help it. He was excited to get right back to work on Monday so now was the perfect time to brainstorm ideas to get a head start.

"How is she doing?"

He looked to the side to see Hiro peaking in.

"Two hours of work paid off, she's nailing the formulas according to Honey."

"That's great!" Hiro grinned. "Way to go Kat."

Kathleen blushed a bit giving a sheepish smile. "Hee…" _There's that smile..._

"We should be done soon." Honey said. "Then she's got the robotics part of her homework to take care of."

Hiro chuckled rubbing his hands together. "Oh that'll be fun… I got some ideas…."

"L-Let's wait until I show my assignment… plus I gotta have my mind put into it too…" She got a worried look. "Um.. it wouldn't be cheating to have a SFIT student help with a robotics project would it?"

"If it is then my brother shouldn't have ever showed me how to make 'em." Hiro replied. "If college students can become assistant teachers I don't see why not. It's like hiring a tutor except we're doing it for free because we want to."

"O-Okay…"

"Just as long as he doesn't do all the work." Tadashi commented. "That's all that kind of counts."

"I'm not that bad Takashi!" Hiro got a mock offended look. "I am WOUNDED you would think I'd even do that."

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Drama king alert."

"Hmph! Well I'll be in MY lab if you need me. The prince needs his quiet time." Hiro walked off making a show of it.

Kathleen giggled. "That's Hiro… Always up to something…"

"Guess you're already used to it huh?" Honey asked. "Just always been like this?"

"Yup. He mocked Tadashi about being a nerd but he's always been one himself… He can just be silly when he wants to, especially if he knows it might get a laugh… He can be serious too…. Honestly…." She looked back down to her assignment. "... I'm just happy he's smiling again…"

Honey got a worried look. "... You were around for Tadashi's death, weren't you?"

"... Part of it… I wasn't at the expo, family dinner that night… But I was there with my folks for his funeral… And I know Hiro was hurting really bad… He didn't wanna talk to anyone… And I heard he wasn't eating much either… I brought him some cookies from home and a few notes hoping to cheer him up… Honestly I was just glad when he started being himself again…" Kathleen looked up a sad look in her eyes. "I wish I could've helped more… I still have my siblings and I never lost anyone… I didn't know how to help him…"

"We all know that feeling." Honey frowned as she looked to the others. "Tadashi was our best friend but I don't think any of us could've understood what Hiro was going through… we were able to help in the end.. and we were happy when he was finally smiling again… laughing. He's been getting better and better with time… at this point… I like to think he's back at his peak."

"I think so too… Tadashi was my friend too but he was closer to my siblings… It hit us but… It was just better at the time to let Hiro just figure things out… We didn't wanna hurt him more since as Alice put it… We'd just be a reminder of the better times…" Kathleen sighed. "But he's getting better like you said… And he's got all of us… Baymax too."

Honey nodded. "That's right."

She nodded. "Yup... " She looked to where Hiro was seeing him trying to pry Toshio off of Baymax and smiled a bit. "That's our genius…"

"TOSHIO I NEED TO CHECK HIS OPTICS!" He yelled.

"Noooo! He's fine!" She gave him a defiant look. "You can't have him!"

"He's MY Baymax!"

Toshio gave him a kicked puppy look as she whimpered. "But he's my friend…"

"Gack!"

Baymax patted her head. "There there."

"Hee…" She gave Hiro a bit of a smug look. "See? He agrees."

"Uggggh… FINE! I'll check them later."

"Yay! More hugs for me!"

The three at Honey's station laughed as they watched. "He can never resist that look." Honey shook her head.

"Nope… And sadly he knows how to use it too."

"Welcome to another Saturday at the nerd lab." Gogo commented as she rode around on her bike.

"Where robot girls claim our medic as their own and where we just do whatever." Fred commented sitting upside down on his couch with a comic. "Still saying we need to give Baymax laser eyes!"

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

"Fine… Then give me invisible sandwich."

"Just stop." Wasabi groaned.

"Shrink ray?"

"NO!"

"Fire breathing death lizard?"

Wasabi gave him a look. "You already do that on a weekly basis."

"You do what now?" Kathleen yelped.

Fred pointed to him. "He speaks nonsense!"

Wasabi realized what he had just done and just rolled his eyes. "Kidding, but I swear he secretly is one."

"I don't do that tongue thing!"

Kathleen blinked. "Ok...ay?"

Tadashi ran a hand through his hair. _Guys.. she's gonna find out eventually… She may take things at face value but she's not stupid. _

"They're just bein' men." Gogo replied as she sped by. "As per usual!"

"HEY!"

"Need some ice?" Tadashi smirked.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Ha ha ha…. Ice ray!"

Everyone threw their heads back groaning.

"NOT SCIENCE!"

"Not yet it isn't! I bet if I asked Hiro he would do it!"

"No I would not recycle boy!"

Kathleen looked to Honey raising an eyebrow. "Do I wanna know?"

She cringed. "You don't… You really don't."

Beep beep beep

Hiro looked over to Baymax, seeing a message symbol on his chest.

"Oh boy… What's the news Baymax?"

"Six car pile up on Maine Street."

"Accident?"

"It would appear so, but there appears to be fires coming up from some of the vehicles…"

"The fire department is gonna need some help." Hiro looked to the others. "Guys, emergency."

"Right!"

"We're on it!"

Kathleen was confused as everyone around her started heading out. "Wait, what's going on!?"

"Just something we need to take care of." Hiro answered as he got Toshio off Baymax, heading out with him." We'll be back as soon as possible. Takashi, keep her company."

Tadashi nodded. "Can do."

Kathleen sighed watching them go. "He runs off like that a lot…"

"Busy man he is." Tadashi looked to her. "Don't take it personal."

"I don't… I just worry about him…" She replied going back to her work. "I just don't wanna see him hurt…"

"I'm sure he'll be fine… and if he does he's got Baymax with him."

"True… Mind helping me with this last formula…?" She gave her own version of the puppy eyes.

Tadashi chuckled, sitting down with her.

"Of course."


	6. Who needs dances?

"Ow! Easy!"

_Just my luck one of those dang things shifts and nearly crushes me… And now I get the honor of being pin cushion…_ Hiro thought trying to hold still.

"I am sorry Hiro, I am almost finished." Baymax said as he finished up a stitch job he was doing on Hiro's forearm. "There."

Hiro sighed in relief. "Thank goodness… Sorry just sore all over…"

"It is alright. Your reaction is normal." Baymax patted his head. "You have been a good boy." He offered him a lollipop.

Hiro smiled taking it. "Thanks Baymax, you're the best."

"I try."

"And you are." He leaned back in his chair twirling the lollipop in his fingers. "How's your battery holding up?"

"I will need to be recharged for a bit." His message box went off. "Tadashi wanted to inform you that Kathleen has gone home for the day. She was exhausted from last night."

"Got it… It was a pretty long night… But it was worth it…" He smiled remembering how Tadashi had reacted to the watch. "And as for your battery… I'll let ya get some rest… I am satisfied with my care."

Baymax nodded going over to his charging station powering down.

Hiro stretched a bit minding his injuries as he got up. "Alright time for bed myself… Least for a few hours…" _Probably should give bro a heads up that I'm gonna lie down for a bit… Good thing about Aunt Cass knowing everything she'll give me a cover. _

Hey, exhausted, I'll be fine, needed stitches. Don't freak out. - HH

Nothing new to me. I'll tell Cass so in case Kat asks she'll have an excuse ready. -TH

We all know what it'll probably be: "Kokoro." since when does that robot not try to kill me? -HH

Yep. As for where you were… I'm pretty sure Kat won't ask. - TH

Hiro chuckled a bit before replying.

Yeah, she respects privacy. But I am wearing long sleeves until these stitches come out. I don't wanna worry her even if she knows. Always worse if you can SEE the thing. - HH

I have to ask…. Are you going to tell her about BH6 or are you gonna wait until she puts everything together herself? Because you know she will eventually if she gets curious enough. - TH

…. Should I? I mean… I don't know. Maybe… I need to think about it. I know she'll put two and two together eventually but I wanna hold out for a bit longer…. -HH

Not gonna rush ya just… don't want to end up lying to her a lot. - TH

I don't lie.. Alright so I lied once or twice but I was young and stupid. -HH

Just tell her if you want to. Though I think she's going to be around a bit more than just cafe runs… If you know what I mean. - TH

Yeah, I still gotta ask her what she wants to do for her robotics homework. Rushed out of there so fast that I didn't even ask… I kind of owe her one. -HH

Well then make it up to her then. - TH

I will Nerd King. -HH

Go to bed Nerd Prince. - TH

Going up the stairs now. Don't stay out too late… I mean I know you got a girlfriend and all…. -HH

You better be glad we're not in the same room right now. - TH

Why do you think I made that crack? I know opportunity-And you're outside the window aren't you? -HH

WONK!

"Never mess with a ghost."

Hiro yelped rubbing his head. "OW!" He gave his brother a look. "You were waiting for me!"

"Yep. Flew on home after Kat left."

The boy rolled his eyes but smiled sitting on his bed. "You have fun with your new disguise?" He asked as he took off his shoes laying back.

"Oh yeah, felt great." Tadashi sat on his bed. "It'll take some getting used to but I'll be fine."

Hiro yawned nodding as he curled up. "Awesome… Glad for ya Nii-san… I love you…"

Tadashi got up, tucking Hiro in. "Love you too Hiro."

He smiled before he drifted off, out like a light.

oooooo

"Kat… can you please take us to SFIT some time?" Elly asked giving a puppy dog look. It was lunch at the school for the girls right now. "Those guys sound awesome."

Kathleen paused in taking a bite out of her cookie looking at Elly with a sheepish look. "I can't bring just anyone… It's not my lab…"

"But…" Kailey gave her own puppy look. "The college guys! The geniuses! … The explosives!"

"Spoken like a Keller." Shiloh muttered.

"Girls please… They got a lot of work going on there and well… I just have access-"

"Because of Hiro." Annabelle snickered. "We know."

"Of course… Boyfriend privileges!"

Kathleen turned bright red. "He's not my boyfriend!" She squeaked placing her cookie back down. "He's my friend and I care about him but not like that!"

"She seems pretty clear about it." Elly munched on her sandwich. "How about we drop it huh?"

"What fun is that?" Annabelle asked taking a sip of her water. "We all went through the mocking. It's customary for a happy relationship!"

"Because if we can't take it how will we take the stupid stuff our guys do eventually?" Kailey added.

"He's not…" Kathleen lowered her head. "Oh you guys aren't gonna let it go even if I sing it from the rooftop."

All of them nodded. "Yep."

"It's nice that he's helping you with your homework though, and his friends too." Elly smiled. "Your own personal tutors."

Kathleen smiled giving a small shrug. "They just wanna help… They literally said if I needed anything to just ask… And they don't mind… Only thing I haven't gotten done yet is my robotics assignment…. Hiro's been tired from working so he hasn't had time to help…"

"What he do this time?"

"Um… I think there was another round of attempted murder by robot…"

Annabelle cringed. "Oh… bummer."

Kathleen nodded wincing remembering what she had been told by Cass. "Yeah… Something about it managing to get ahold of one of Hiro's screwdrivers and…" She made a stabbing motion with her hand. "You can guess from there…"

"You're kidding me!"

"Nope. His project has daddy issues…" _Though that sounds a little far fetched even for Kokoro… Hiro usually only gets punched, thrown or… Tackled… Actually… Not too far fetched…_

"Well hope he feels better." Kailey snapped her fingers. "Maybe you could make him some sweets."

"M-Me?" Kathleen blushed a bit. "Well… I know I could make him something that has gummy bears in it… He loves those things."

"Then do that, surprise him."

"I think I will… Heh maybe I could bring Johanna by too... "

"... Get pictures if she gets all cuddly on his head."

"Will do."

"Hey girls!"

All looked to see a fellow student at the end of their table with another student with fliers.

"You planning on going to the school dance?" he asked, holding up one of the fliers.

"Heck yeah!" Shiloh took one looking at it. "Taylor's not getting outta this one!"

"I know I am… I bought my dress last week." Kailey smiled sheepishly. "The only pink one they had left."

"Royden and I are all ready thanks to my mom." Elly giggled. "Annabelle too."

"Yup, her mom works miracles with fabric." Annabelle giggled. "Caleb looked so cute in his suit…"

Kathleen gave a small shrug. "Eh… I probably should study that night…" She murmured lowering her head. _Not like anyone here would ask me out…._

Elly frowned, squeezing her shoulder.

"Well, it'll be great to see you there!"

The students ran off, heading towards other students.

Kathleen sighed. "School dance… Great…"

"No one said you have to go Kat… and you don't fail at life if you never do." Elly gave a look. "Don't go there."

"Didn't think I was failing at life…. Till now…" Kathleen gave her own look. "I don't wanna talk about this guys…"

"Then we won't. NEXT SUBJECT."

oooooo

"Kat coming today?" Tadashi asked from his station. He was already diving into his work and enjoying himself, but that didn't mean he didn't have time to talk.

"I think so, I called her to ask but… She sounded weird…" Hiro replied as he worked on his own project. "... She sounded crabby."

"I'm thinking another stress day." Tadashi hummed in thought. "Or teacher was a jerk today."

"Well we'll find out when she gets here…" Hiro mused looking to the door hearing it open. "Speak of the Sweet Devil."

Kathleen gave a quiet hello to the others when they greeted her as she made her way over to Hiro. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun. "Hey…" She murmured.

_Stress day…_

"What happened now?" Hiro asked as he closed the door to his lab so no one else could listen.

Kathleen kept quiet for a moment as she set her bag down. "... You'll laugh at me…" She said finally.

Hiro blinked back confusion, going to her tipping her chin up. "Come on Kat I would never."

"Promise?" She asked some worry in her eyes.

Concern crossed Hiro's as he saw her expression change.

"Kat… what's wrong?"

Kathleen moved her head away looking down. "... My school's having a dance… No one's asked me… All my friends are going and of course… They all have boyfriends and… I guess I just fail at life…" She crossed her arms taking a few steps away from Hiro. "Just… It sucks… No one ever asks me… So I wind up sitting against the wall the whole night or I don't go and then hear about it for days!"

Hiro was rather surprised at this. He had never really heard Kathleen ever complain about something like this. Dances never really meant anything to him, heck he just ignored them half the time since he'd rather be out bot fighting instead. But seeing this… he couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"No one huh?"

"No…" She laughed but it was bitter as she looked to him. "Just plain ol'Kathleen… I'm not an athlete like Shiloh, or a dancer slash hacker like Kailey. I don't run the Nerdet club like Elly and Annabelle, heck… I'm just… Me…"

"And what's wrong with you?" Hiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "You make awesome sweets, heck are a fantastic cook in general. You're kind, you always try your hardest in school and are nice to everyone. I see nothing wrong with you Kat."

She looked at him and sighed. "I guess…. I just worry I'm not anything… More like…" She lowered her head. "More like I worry I'm never gonna amount to anything or be anyone…"

"Now what's got you thinking like THAT?"

Kathleen sighed. "Charlie's an amazing athlete… Alice is a born actress… They do amazing things, everyone likes them… And here I am not sure what I'm gonna do or who I want to be… I don't even know what college I want to get into!"

"Kat…" Hiro sat down, having her sit next to him. "You're still a sophomore, you got time to still figure things out."

Kathleen brought her knees up to her chest. "It's my worst fear Hiro… It scares me that I don't know yet… I just… I just want to have some sort of idea… Something I can do… I guess… I just hate how it seems everyone knows… Everyone but me… I mean… Look at you… Your Hiro freaking Hamada... " She looked to him. "You got into this school at fourteen… Graduated high school at thirteen…"

"Yeah but that's me… not everyone in the world Kat… I figured out things quicker yes but that isn't setting the standard for how quick everyone else should figure things out, especially you."

She nodded. "R-Right… Sorry… I guess this dance just brought up everything…"

"Really bugs you that much?"

"Yes… It's stupid I know-"

"Ah! Don't say that." Hiro got a serious look. "I may not have cared much for dances but if it's making you upset then it matters."

Kathleen's eyes widened a bit before smiling a bit. "Hiro…"

"You shouldn't have to be upset over this… And honestly… dances are lame… you could be doing something so much cooler like…" Hiro trailed off… an idea crossing his mind. "... When is this dance again?"

"Three days from now."

"Well since you're not going… How about you and I do something that's cooler instead?"

"R-Really!?"

Hiro nodded. "Really."

"Okay… Where? … And what?" She asked curious now.

"Meet me here at the lab around 5 in the evening. Bring your warmest clothes too." Hiro grinned. "The rest is all a surprise."

Kathleen smiled. "Alright… Thanks Hiro…" She laid her head on his shoulder. "Sorry for going all postal…"

Hiro blushed a little, giving a sheepish look. "It's okay… we all have our bad days."

"Still.. Means a lot…" She closed her eyes sighing a bit. "Sorry… Just been a long day…"

Hiro's gaze softened bringing an arm around her.

"You'll be okay… and Kat… you'll find out what you're looking for to do in life… just be patient…"

Kathleen relaxed huddling a little closer to him. "Thanks Hiro… I will…"

"Anytime… and if need be… I'll help you find it."

_Hiro…._

oooooo

_Alright, warm clothes… Check… Phone in case folks call… Check… Just now to play the waiting game…._

Kathleen was rather excited. She was with her friends who were all ready for the dance but were hanging with her till it was time to go. All curious what she had planned… especially with the grin she had on her face.

"Got something fun planned?" Elly asked. "You got quite the grin on your face."

"Oh, just something a friend of mine planned… He said it's a surprise." Kathleen replied with a small giggle.

"Oh… THAT friend eh?" Kailey smirked a bit.

"Yes…. He just wants to do something nice for me… That's all."

"Aww! What a gentlemen!" Elly squealed. "Coming to your rescue!"

Kathleen blushed. "Well… That's Hiro…"

"He lives up to the name." Shiloh grinned. "Tell us ALL about it okay?"

"We'll see... "

"Still… he really is awesome for doing something for ya Kat. You deserve something special."

"Thanks Elly… I just hope it goes well… I'm really excited."

"I hope it goes well too."

"Alright everyone we're heading out!" Elly's father called. "We'll stop at SFIT to drop off Kat and then we'll head for the school."

"Coming Dr. Cunning!" They called as they all got in, Kathleen getting in last.

"Ah this is gonna be fun."

"Just hope your dad's not chaperoning Kails… Remember what happened last time?"

Kailey turned a little red. "He wasn't that bad…"

"He brought the chainsaw…."

"...Yeah okay it was that bad… But he only brought it out when he was outside!"

"And it was for Alex…" Annabelle added.

Kathleen giggled. "Bring me pictures if he is."

"Roger that."

oooooo

"Oh she's gonna be so surprised." Honey giggled as she waited with Tadashi outside the lab.

"Heh, I can imagine… Hiro's going all out tonight." Tadashi chuckled. "He's been talking about it for the last couple of days."

"It's really great that he's doing this for her."

"Yeah… She was pretty upset about this whole dance thing… Hiro being himself, just wants to see her happy…" Tadashi smiled. "Heh…. Technically this will be his first date…"

"They grow up so fast."

"I'm here!"

They looked to see Kathleen running up. She was dressed in jeans and a warm jacket, her hair pulled back a little.

"Ah the lady of the hour. Welcome back." Tadashi grinned before poking his head inside. "Hey genius! She's here!"

"Coming!"

Hiro came running out… and to Kathleen's surprise… was dressed in a very familiar set of purple and red armor carrying a helmet under his right arm.

He gave a bow. "Evening madam."

Kathleen's eyes were wide as her jaw dropped a little. "H-Hiro…. Oh my gosh you're... " She composed herself. "You're H-1…!?"

He grinned, putting on his helmet. "Well… Surprise!"

She was stunned but found herself laughing. "Oh my gosh it all makes sense now!" She gave a small bow of her own. "Well then… Evening to you too…"

Hiro walked up to her, taking his hands in hers. "Ready for tonight?"

Kathleen nodded. "Ready and willing… I've been looking forward to it since you made plans with me…"

"Then come on."

He lead her out back to where Baymax was waiting patiently in his armor, waving to the two as they came forward.

"Hello Kathleen."

She waved. "Hey Baymax…" She looked to Hiro. "This makes a lot of sense now… Thought that face was familiar… Oh my gosh this is awesome!"

Hiro chuckled getting on to Baymax's back before offering a hand to her.

"Come on up and hang on."

She took his hand as he pulled her up with him. She held on tight feeling excited. "This… Way blows dancing out of the water."

"Alright Baymax. Wings!"

Baymax nodded, his wings coming out before he took to the sky, flying out towards the city.

"YEAH!" Hiro cheered as they flew.

Kathleen laughed holding on tight. "THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Show her what we got Baymax!"

Baymax gave another nod, flying through different parts of the city, performing different flight patterns as they soared through the sky. Once they got on a straight glide path, Hiro let go a little, sitting up a bit.

"And look at that view right there." he said, gesturing his hand outward.

Kathleen looked, eyes wide in wonder at the city before them. Everything was lit up, making it look as if San Fransokyo was glowing. "Amazing…"

"Yeah… it's something I get to enjoy with Baymax every time we go flying just because we can… I wanted to share this with you since for me… I just forget about everything and feel... free."

"I can see why… It feels amazing… Flying… We're really flying…" She looked around a big smile on her face. "Incredible…"

After awhile they found themselves resting on one of the fish turbines above the city. Hiro had Kathleen sitting close to him so she didn't slip off, though Baymax kept to her side just in case. He slipped off his helmet smoothing out his hair.

"That felt good…"

"Agreed.." She sighed happily looking out at the view, leaning her head on Hiro's shoulder. "I'm really happy right now Hiro… This is better than anything I could've imagined…"

Hiro smiled, feeling some heat rush to his face.

"I'm glad Kat… hate seeing you sad…"

"You're so good to me…" She looked up at him noting the blush and realized what she had been doing turning a bit red herself. "A-Ah sorry, I won't do that again-"

"No no… you're fine… Really…"

She waited a moment before laying her head back on his shoulder. "Thanks… Seriously… For everything…"

"Anytime Kat…"

He was still blushing but he was starting not to mind it as much… and before he knew it had an arm around her shoulders.

_What's gotten into me…?_

Kathleen was a little surprised but relaxed into him, huddling closer. _He's warm… So warm…. _

Hiro closed his eyes, resting his head against hers. It was complete silence… he just wanted to take in everything he was feeling right there. He was still feeling that sense of freedom from earlier with the adrenaline rush… but now there was something else he was trying to understand.

His heart was beating faster, there was still some heat in his face but he didn't feel sick… It just felt.. Different. _It feels… Right… _

Kathleen closed her eyes smiling a little as she curled up to his side sighing a little. _I feel so happy right now… Like there's no one else but us in the world… Our own little bit of forever…_

"So… having a good time Kat?" he asked.

"The best time ever Hiro…" She replied.

"Good… cause I know I am… Never really took anyone flying with me with the exception of Immortal 7 since he can fly… but it's nice having another person here." He looked to Baymax. "Not that you're not fun Baymax, you're awesome."

"I understand Hiro." He patted his charge's head.

"This really is just… Awesome…" Kathleen giggled a bit. "Our own secret…"

"Something like that… just a way to be free for abit before going back down to Earth…" Hiro sighed happily. "Just… step into a different world."

"Yeah… You're right…" Kathleen nuzzled him a little. "It's perfect…" _Wait what am I-Oh screw it… It's nice…_

Hiro felt more heat coming to his face.

_She's really close… and I don't mind… I… I think I like it…_

Kathleen didn't notice the blushing as she kept gazing out at the city, but she brought her arms around Hiro in a loose embrace. She said nothing just savoring the quiet. High enough that most of the noise from the city was gone, save the quiet hums of the turbines.

Hiro held her close, burying part of his face in her hair a little.

_This is nice…_

"Your neurotransmitter levels have increased."

They both jumped a bit when Baymax spoke. "E-Eh?"

Hiro closed his eyes. _Not now please not now-_

"You are both experiencing joy… brought on by being close with each other."

They turned red. "Uh-uh well… I mean…" Hiro stuttered.

"I-I…" Kathleen looked to the side. "I mean this is… Really nice…"

"I-It is…" _Oh gosh heart stop beating so quickly, Baymax is gonna notice._

Baymax blinked scanning Hiro. "Your heart rate has increased dramatically."

"Y-Yeah.. uh…"

Baymax turned to Kathleen scanning her as well. "... As has yours."

Kathleen turned red. 'W-Well uh…"

"I hope we ain't getting sick…"

"I have come to a diagnosis…" Baymax held up a finger as he chimed: "Attraction!"

Hiro's face went completely red. "Uh…!"

Kathleen stuttered and just resorted to burying her face in Hiro's shoulder. "He didn't say that, he didn't say that, he did not just say that!"

"I do not lie, your symptoms are clear. It is not a bad thing that you two are experiencing this."

_Baymax… just… please stop!_

"Just… That's not something you yell to the world!" Kathleen murmured just loud enough to be heard. "I think half of San Fransokyo heard…" She was exaggerating yes but she was embarrassed.

"I apologize, I did not mean for others to hear… I am happy to see that you two enjoy being in each other's presence."

The two looked to one another for a moment.

"... Oh screw it. C'mere…" Hiro pulled Kathleen into his arms burying his face in her hair. "He's gonna announce it anyway…"

Kathleen was red now but relaxed into him, hugging him.

"Hiro…"

"Kit Kat…" He nuzzled her a little.

She nuzzled him back, gazing a little.

He smiled gazing into her eyes. _She's so cute… _

_He's amazing…_

She rested her head on his shoulder, curled up to him.

_Please don't let this be a dream… let me have this at least… _

He kept her close, stroking her hair a bit… Humming softly.

"Thank you again for this Hiro… this really made my night…"

"Anything for you Kat…"

She smiled closing her eyes, enjoying the moment.

It didn't last forever to their dismay. They had to go back eventually… well least so they didn't freeze. They were back in Hiro's workstation, huddled up to Baymax who had his heater on to warm them up along with some hot chocolate.

Kathleen sighed happily glancing at Hiro out of the corner of her eye. _He really is a good guy… He means so much to me..._

Hiro looked over to her, smiling a little. _I can't stop looking at her… _

He never wanted it to end.


	7. Finding Purpose

Kathleen became a frequent visitor to the lab. The team didn't really mind, she just kind of became another member of the place. She wasn't in the way and most of the time she just needed help with school stuff and they happily obliged her. She didn't always come empty handed either.

"I smell fresh chocolate." Fred said, sniffing the air.

Kathleen giggled as she set down a box on one of the free lab tables. "You did… And that's because I made a cake for you guys."

"Cake?"

"We get cake!?"

"Hey! I was her friend first so I get first slice!"

Everyone looked to Hiro smirking.

"You're her favorite so of course you do." Gogo chuckled.

"Ah they grow up so fast." Tadashi commented ruffling his hair.

"Takashi quit!"

"I swear Takashi is picking up what Tadashi left behind." Wasabi whispered to Honey.

"Guess it runs in the family." Honey giggled.

"Hamadas for ya."

Kathleen shook her head. "Now if you guys wanna stop goofing off, I got cake to serve up here… And by the way… I aced my robotics test."

They all cheered, pulling her into a group hug.

"That's our Kit Kat!"

"Way to go kiddo." Wasabi ruffled her hair.

"All that extra lab time paid off." Hiro grinned. "Way to go!"

"Ah our little nerdet in training." Fred wiped away a fake tear. "If only she could graduate high school sooner so she could be with us."

Kathleen gave a sheepish look. "Just wanna pace it."

Honey hugged her. "She's still ours!"

"Part of the big old nerd lab family." Gogo chuckled. "She's knows everything now… so she's basically one of us… and honestly. Our sanity companion along with Takashi with being the two non heroes."

"Speaking of heroes… Anyone seen Immortal 7 lately?"

"He's annoyed at me." Hiro said quickly. "So he's just been keeping out of sight." _You owe me bro._

_I need to remember to alternate. _Tadashi thought. _Thanks Hiro._

"I'm sure he'll pop up from time to time, maybe he needed space." Kathleen smiled. "That's something I can understand."

"Yep." Hiro nodded. "And he's just got his own stuff too… But anyways... Cake?"

Kathleen cut up pieces serving Hiro first before getting to the others as they dug in.

"Mmm! Yep! I nicknamed you right Kit Kat!" Fred grinned. "This tastes great!"

"This is as good as your Aunt Cass's cake Hiro."

Hiro said nothing enjoying his slice as he tried to swipe extra frosting off of Tadashi's plate. "Hey!"

"C'mon… You don't need all that extra sugar Takashi…!"

"Neither do you, you sugar addict! Mein!"

Hiro hmph'd and ate his cake eying Tadashi's. _You will drop your guard…. _

"There's plenty for seconds." Kathleen giggled. "Don't need to steal from each other."

"Good point… Besides it has his nerd germs all over it." Hiro smirked.

WHACK!

"OW!"

"Hello pot the name is kettle."

Everyone threw their heads back laughing.

"Oh that's just perfect!"

Hiro rolled his eyes chuckling before serving himself another piece. "Ahuh laugh it up. What goes around comes around."

"Well I'm glad you guys like it. You've been helping me a lot and you've been working hard so… thought you'd like this."

"It's great Kathleen." Tadashi smiled. "You're a really great baker."

"Better watch out for any boys… They taste this cooking they'll fall head over heels." Gogo smirked in Hiro's direction. "Right Hiro?"

"Oh shut up Gogo!"

Kathleen giggled. "That's what my friends have told me before. Quickest way to a boy's heart is through his stomach I think is what Kailey said once."

"Truer words have never been spoken."

_Amen to that… _

"Any plans for today Kit Kat?" Honey asked.

"I got most of my homework done so… I think if it's alright I'll just hang around here and watch you guys work."

They all looked to each other and nodded. "Fine with us."

"As ruler of the lab… It's alright."

"Oh no squirt I'M King of the Lab now." Tadashi ruffled his hair.

"Nooo! I'm being overthrown! Subjects! Halp!"

They all looked before holding up their hands. "All Hail King Takashi!"

"Ah I feel so loved." Tadashi grinned. "Sorry Hiro, your reign is over."

Hiro actually pouted. "Aw man."

Kathleen side hugged him. "Don't worry you're still King of the Garage."

"Huzzah!"

Tadashi shook his head.

"King Takashi!" Fred laughed. "... I think I finally got your nickname."

"That so?" He asked.

Fred went over to him, making the same hand motion he had with Kathleen.

"I hearby dub you… Paladin!"

Tadashi looked at him surprised. "How'd I score a nickname like THAT?"

"Cause you're always following the rules, making sure everyone's alright… I'd go with Medic but that's kind of Baymax's shtick and I can't steal those. So… Paladin it is cause you're also honorable."

_Oh if these guys only knew about the other side of me… This is just hilarious._

Tadashi bowed his head. "Alright, so be it."

Everyone clapped. "Alright so that's seven out of eight nicknamed… Yes Fred I'm counting you in that."

"Fredzilla suckers!" Fred said striking a pose.

"Of course." They all deadpanned.

"What? It's awesome!"

"You know we can't ever call you that on the battlefield right?" Hiro asked raising an eyebrow.

"I know but still!"

"Hey it suits him." Tadashi shrugged chuckling.

"Agreed." Kathleen giggled.

"So that just leaves-" Hiro cut himself off. "I mean great we're all nicknamed-"

"One day Hiro Hamada…" Fred laughed maniacally. "YOU WILL BE GIVEN A NICKNAME!"

Hiro huddled closer to Tadashi. "Ahuh… Suuuure…" He whispered to Tadashi. "If you love me you will prevent that!"

"Like he's going to listen to me." Tadashi whispered back.

"Point taken… Least he can't pin one on me." Hiro smirked a bit. "I'm immune!"

"This is Fred… he'll probably find something."

"Hiro's too cool for a nickname." Kathleen smiled. "Just how he is."

HIro blushed a little grinning. "Aw shucks…"

"I mean it." She blushed a little herself.

Hiro smiled. "Thanks Kat… By the way… I need a little favor…" _Since no one else will do it…_

"Fire away."

"Weeell…. I've been filming all my tests with Kokoro and I was wondering-"

"Hiro, I don't want to be near the psycho-bot."

Hiro got close giving his best puppy eyes as he whimpered. "Pleeeeeaaaase Kat?"

"No! I'm not falling for that again! I can tie up a psycho but there is no way I'm-"

The whimpering turned into a sniffle.

"... Oh you are evil"

"So is that a yes?"

"You owe me a whole bag of gummy bears for this."

Hiro grinned and pulled her to his work station. "You won't regret this!"

Everyone looked at each other.

"... Heaven have mercy on her soul."

"Well this could lead up to five movie scenarios…. We might need an exorcism on that bot…"

"... Anyone want to go watch?"

All hands went up.

They all got up quietly, Tadashi pulling out his phone to act as a set of eyes as he had the lense look through a crack in the door.

Hiro and Kathleen stood in front of the robot as he held up a director board "This is Hiro Hamada and Kathleen Coleman and this is the…" He looked at it. "60th test of my robotics project… Alright ready?"

Kathleen nodded. "Ready."

Hiro took a deep breath and turned on the robot. It started to go well as Kokoro stood still watching the teens for a moment… Before its optics landed on Hiro and lunged for him.

"AH!"

Only instead of beating him senseless or any of the very violent scenarios going through Hiro's head… The robot was hugging him, petting his hair.

"... Okay this is marginally better."

Kathleen was trying really hard not to fall over laughing.

"T-That's kind of adorable."

Hiro chuckled a bit. "At least he's not being mean…"

Kokoro just kept petting his hair… Before looking to Kathleen.

"...Go ahead. Sick 'er."

"Oh no nononononono-"

Too late as Kokoro pulled her into an embrace. It seemed to give the look of: "MINE!"

"... I think this robot sees me as his own." Kathleen said noting the expression Kokoro was giving.

"... He'll have to suck it up then." Hiro noted.

WHACK!

"OW! Kokoro quit that!"

Kokoro shook his head, hugging Kathleen in a protective stance.

"Uh… hi?"

He petted her hair.

Hiro hummed in thought. "Starting to remember… Aha! I GET IT NOW! I FINALLY REMEMBER!"

"Well what's his function?"

"Guard bot, mostly meant to act as a foot soldier of sorts to send in on missions too dangerous for normal people to go in. Like Baymax but sleeker and not totally equipped for medical stuff… I just.. need to finish his programming…"

"That explains why he was heavy in combat, he would have to know self defense… and Kokoro… fits him. Heart of courage."

Kokoro seemed pleased… Nuzzling Kathleen while giving Hiro a death glare.

"Oh don't give me that look! You beat me up for two years! But yeah… Hooray for non violent reactions! … For the most part."

Kathleen looked up at Kokoro nuzzling him. "Be nice to him, he's my friend, he's not gonna hurt me Kokoro."

Satisfied with this Kokoro let her go and stepped back onto his charging base.

"Alright… Time to power down now big guy, good job-"

WHACK!

"OW!"

Kathleen giggled. "Let me."

She walked over to Kokoro, shutting him off.

"There."

"Well that went… Sort of well…" Hiro remarked rubbing his head. "Remind me to put a do not do harm to Hiro Hamada program in him somewhere… Still has daddy issues."

"Noted." Kathleen looked at where Kokoro had hit him.

There was a large bruise on the side of his head, faintly shaped like a hand. "... Yeah.. I need to tweak his servos… Or maybe put mittens on him before testing…"

"Good idea…" Kathleen went over to the mini fridge pulling out an ice pack and towel, putting it over the bruise. "There…"

He gave her a grateful look. "Thanks… But hey not so psycho is he?"

"Guess he was just as confused as we were… and needed a little love I guess."

"I suppose so… Plus two years pretty much of not knowing what exactly your main programming should be… I'd be confused too… At least Tadashi's bot was squishy so seemed casualties were slim…" _But man… Looks like I'm gunning for 90 tests…._

"Yeah… and I understand Kokoro's pain… but he knows now."

Hiro nodded looking to Kokoro. "Yup… Still gonna need to do some tweaks, like figure out a better off switch or maybe a vocal command like Megabot and Baymax have for shutting down so I don't ever have to go after a battle crazed version… Then again once I get him all finished up and pretty… He'll be better."

"Yeah, maybe I could help design his outward appearance."

Hiro grinned. "I'd like that."

Kathleen smiled. "Then I'll oblige… Oh Hiro." she hugged him, giggling. "You're making progress! I'm so proud of you!"

Hiro hugged her laughing a bit. "This was the most successful test yet!"

"Yes!"

"And we're still alive!"

"Yay for living!"

He spun her around a bit before they both stopped hearing what sounded like: "Oh man no foot chase?"

"... You guys are SO doomed!"

"RUN!"

There was a sound of many foot steps before it went quiet.

Kathleen shook her head. "Silly nerds."

"Our friends." Hiro deadpanned.

"They're nice nerds though."

Hiro nodded before looking to her with a small grin. "Though you know what this means now that you're rolling with us."

"Hm?" she looked at him curious.

_Always wanted to say this!_

"Welcome to nerd school… Nerd."

Kathleen was quiet before she laughed throwing her arms around him again.

"Glad to be here!"

Hiro hugged her keeping her close.

_I'm really glad she's here…_

Kathleen rested her head under his chin, nuzzling a little.

"Not sure where I fall in nerd categories though since I'm not really good at any science… just cooking."

"You are chef nerd." He nuzzled her. "That's kind of science isn't it?"

Kathleen hummed in thought.

"Well… when it comes to baking you gotta be sure to have all the right ingredients… now that I think about it, whenever I was doing chem stuff with Honey I was oddly reminded of when I start putting things together for a recipe."

Hiro grinned. "We might make you an SFIT student yet."

Kathleen giggled. "Maybe I will look into a form of science… sky seems to be the limit here."

"Yup, I even saw someone once make rocket boots for their cat…. But his sucked… Mine are better." Hiro boasted a bit.

"Oh you…" she nuzzled him again. "If there's a science for cooking I'll take it."

He nuzzled her sighing in content. "If it means free food and seeing you happy… I can only see it going well."

"Yeah…" She closed her eyes. "Only bummer is by the time I can actually get into college you guys will have already finished your four years."

"Who knows…" He held her close. "Maybe you'll get lucky… And the one useful bit of that jerkwad Callaghan's wisdom is… There is no age limit here."

"True…" She looked up to him smiling. "Just don't want to steal your thunder. You're the child prodigy."

He smiled touching his forehead to hers. "You're too kind…. Just a nerd… Prince of all nerds but hey…"

She giggled. "If anything… I would love to go here… it would mean being with all of you… I love it here… I always look forward to coming here after school to see you guys…"

"And everyone would love to have you here…" Hiro hummed in thought. "Actually… Wonder if it would be possible for you to take a couple of classes here…"

"Maybe… I'd just have to do really well."

"Well… There's one surefire way to get in…"

"I'll need some help…" Kathleen smiled.

Hiro grinned and took a step back bowing. "At your service madam."

Kathleen nodded, standing tall, feeling a sense of hope… and a bit of pride.

_I finally feel like I know what I want to do…_


	8. Bump in the Road

Kathleen looked nervously at the container before her. She adjusted her gloves and safety goggles. "Honey, you sure this is a good idea?"

"Liquid nitrogen is totally acceptable in the culinary world!"

"But… Can't it freeze your flesh?"

"Not if you're careful!"

"O-Okay…" She picked up the container. _Okay… easy does it… _

She carefully poured it into the stand mixer before her as the contents instantly changed. She moved it away blowing the smoke away turning the mixer off. She and Honey looked in before grinning.

"And we have ice cream!"

"Ice cream?"

They looked to see Fred poking his head in.

"One shows up…" Kathleen started.

"I like ice cream." Hiro poked his head in as did Tadashi.

"And I like ice cream."

"They all show up." Honey finished.

Everyone else that was in the lab looked over to the two.

"Oh boy… Doesn't help that it's the warm season huh?" Kathleen asked looking to everyone.

"Nope!"

"And it probably doesn't help that it's homemade?" Honey added.

"Yep…" Kathleen took a head count of everyone in the lab. "Hm… I'm gonna have to make more if everyone wants in."

"We can wait!"

"First dibs!" Hiro called.

Kathleen giggled. "Alright, Honey, let's jam."

The two got to work, mixing more vats of ice cream till they were sure they had enough for everyone.

"Alright! I got chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry!" Kathleen called as she started filling bowls.

There was a stampede as everyone rushed over.

"AWAY MY TALL MINION!" Hiro yelled as Baymax lifted him up over the crowd.

Baymax made his through the crowd with ease, setting Hiro down by Kathleen.

"Thank you!"

"And for you… Chocolate." Kathleen grinned handing him a bowl.

"Thank you~" He said, grabbing a spoon. "Just what the doctor ordered."

"Amen to that." said one of the students.

"Yep. Least the teach ain't here-"

"Kit Kat~"

Kathleen looked to see Toshio was behind her, giving puppy dog eyes.

"Can I please get some for Lancy?"

Kathleen giggled and handed her a bowl. "Of course. Hope strawberry's alright."

"It's perfect! Thank you!" She hopped over the crowd, heading to Lance's office.

"... What a jump." Kathleen said after a moment.

"This is why it's impressive when she can knock Baymax off his feet." Hiro commented between bites of ice cream.

Kathleen nodded, looking to everyone. "Well…?" she asked.

Everyone gave positive responses. "Dude, this needs to be a thing!"

"Best ice cream yet!"

"Makes that cafe place look bad."

Hiro gave the person who said that a look of death before grabbing a cherry and flinging it at them.

"Please don't disrespect the Lucky Cat Cafe." Kathleen gave a gentle look to Hiro before looking to the student. "Truth be told some of the recipes I learned were from the owner, she shared them with my mother so… I learned them and just added my own touches. I give credit to Cass Hamada for giving me good recipes to work with."

"O-Oh… Sorry."

Hiro nodded giving her a grateful look… Before it turned into a puppy eyed look holding up his now empty bowl. "More?"

Kathleen giggled, getting him another scoop. "There ya go." She smiled.

"Thanks Kat." He grinned. "With this kind of stuff… Heh I'd say you'd be a shoe in next show case… If you wanted to try it."

"I'm not sure." Kathleen hummed in thought. "Kind of hard to impress with just cooking stuff cause if I remember correctly to get admission… you really need to knock the crowd's socks off."

"You'll think of something… Rome wasn't built in a day... " _And neither were the microbots…_

"Least I know I got support." She looked to Hiro and their friends. "You guys have been awesome."

"Hey… Anything for our Kit Kat… C'mere!" Fred pulled her in messing up her hair.

"Ack! I'm under attack!" she squeaked, trying to pull away. "HALP!"

"Baymax sick 'em!"

Baymax waddled over, picking up Fred.

"You are free."

Kathleen hurried over to Honey, using her as a shield.

"He messed up my hair."

Honey held up one of her chem balls. "Freddy~"

"RUN!"

Fred booked it… only to be stopped in his tracks by pink goop.

"GACK!"

Honey grinned. "Works everytime~"

"Curses…" Fred sighed. "Bested again."

Tadashi grinned, nuzzling her. "That's Honey for you."

Honey giggled. "Taka…."

Everyone looked at the two, grinning.

"Oooo…"

"... I think we just summoned the mocking…"

"Indeed we have…"

Fred snickered. "Love on the battle field."

Tadashi rolled his eyes hugging Honey. "Mein! Mock someone else!"

"But there is no one else!"

Tadashi pointed to Hiro. "He's young and probably not a bachelor anymore. Bug him!"

"TRAITOR!"

Fred looked over to Hiro.

"Oh yeah…" he eyed Kathleen.

Kathleen held her ground, crossing her arms.

"One word out of your mouth and no more free sweets for you."

Fred gave a look of horror. "You wouldn't!"

She smirked. "I would."

"You've been hanging around Gogo too much!"

WHACK!

"And THAT's for that Fred." Gogo smirked putting an arm around Kathleen's shoulders. "Kit Kat's on MY side now."

Kathleen giggled. "Woman up!"

Fred faked passing out. "There's two of them… I can't… Go on… Living…!"

"Well blimey, I think you slayed Fredzilla." Tadashi laughed as everyone else joined in.

Fred looked up. "There is no slaying Fredzilla!"

"Do I sense a challenge?" Kathleen asked.

"... No?"

"Well I remember he screamed like a girl during Tadashi's showcase… Lessee…. I think we still have some duct tape around here-"

Fred booked it. "NOT AGAIN!"

"And that's why the duct tape never runs out here."

"That was quite the run considering he got free of Honey's little sticky bomb."

Honey hummed in thought. "Wonder if I should've used the ice one…"

"Eh… mercy this time." Kathleen shrugged.

"True… Come my protege! We have chemicals to mix!"

"YES!"

Tadashi chuckled watching the two girls get right back to work.

"Look at her… she's really starting to shine our little Kit Kat."

Hiro smiled leaning against his brother a little. "All thanks to SFIT… And our little team of nerds…"

Tadashi nodded. "She's looking a lot better than she was about a month ago… she's got a confident look in her eyes now."

"She's getting better and better… She isn't stuttering as much either…"

"She's growing up…" Tadashi looked at his brother, ruffling his hair a little. "And she has you to thank for a lot of things… you really changed her world."

Hiro chuckled a bit. "Just want to see her happy… And I want to see her shine… I think she has a future that just opened up for her… And I think she's finally seeing it too…"

"And that's just what she needed Hiro…"

He looked over to Kathleen. She was focused but had a big grin on her face as she watched Honey show her a formula.

Hiro smiled. "She's got herself a good mentor too in the chemistry department…"

"Yep and a good group of friends to support her."

"Yup… So…" Hiro gave his brother a smirk. "Since you can…. You gonna marry Honey-"

WACK!

"How about we keep out of my love life?"

"You're in mine!"

"Least I don't ask you stuff like that."

Hiro held out his hand. "Hiro Hamada have we met?"

Tadashi shook his head. "So you do admit to liking Kit Kat."

Hiro blushed a bit. He pulled Tadashi away. "So maybe I do and maybe when we went for our flight Baymax blurted out to all of San Fransokyo that we're attracted to one another!"

Tadashi grinned. "Called it."

Hiro's jaw dropped. "I was that obvious!?"

"Kat was obvious from the get go… and you, I wasn't sure until I had Baymax take a look for me. He confirmed my suspicions."

"... So… Think I got a chance?"

"Bro… Have you not seen the way she looks at you?" Tadashi glanced over to Kathleen. "She's been giving that kind of look since you graduated high school. She blushed a lot at any compliment you gave her… she just never says anything."

Hiro turned a little red remembering all of their time spent together. He swore he felt his heartbeat pick up as he thought back. "Y-Yeah… You got a point there…"

"But the choice to tell her is yours… just don't expect her to… it's nerve wracking."

"I'll give her time… Right now I don't mind being her wingman…"

"And that's fine, take it nice and slow. After all, that's her style."

Hiro nodded watching her. "Yup… Though mark my words she's gonna be going here eventually. Even if I have to conveniently get some of the judges delayed so no one that's super tough is there…Okay probably not that far but… She really wants to go here… I think she'd do great…"

"Well this is sounding familiar." Tadashi looked to Hiro.

Hiro chuckled a bit. "It does, doesn't it?"

"Just… don't go charging into a fire. Kay?"

"Dude my suit is partially fire resistant for a reason." Hiro shoved him a bit. "I should be saying that to you."

"Fire can't exactly touch me anymore."

"Yeah I guess with certain girls you're so hot you're already on fire-"

WACK!

"And poor choice of words."

Hiro rubbed his head. "What the heck do you do, use special finger weights so your knuckles give more of a punch!?"

"I have some secrets I will never say." Tadashi smirked.

"I'll find out your secrets." Hiro vowed giving a bit of an evil look. "I always do."

Tadashi ruffled his hair.

"Yeah yeah, just don't hurt your brain."

"Who graduated first!?"

"Oh shut up."

Hiro rolled his eyes hugging him. "I missed this banter."

Tadashi hugged him back. "Missed this too."

_Everything's looking up… _

oooooo

"Has anyone seen Kit Kat today?" Honey asked looking around the lab. "I tried texting her but she isn't answering."

"Nope." Gogo sped by on her bike. "Haven't seen her."

Hiro looked up from where he and Tadashi were pinning a squirming Kokoro down as they tried to get a new chip in. "Haven't seen her since Sunday!"

"Hm… odd… she's generally good about messaging."

"Hello?"

They all looked to the entrance of the lab to see a group of young girls walking in.

"Can we help you?" Wasabi asked.

One of them nodded. "Are you Kathleen's friends?"

"Yep, her nerd herd as it were." Tadashi added dodging a punch that hit Hiro instead. "Oh that's gonna leave a mark."

"Traitor…" Hiro muttered. "But yeah that's us… Why?"

"Well… we're just here to pass on a message. She's sick."

Everyone looked to each other before looking to the girls concerned.

"Sick? With what?" Gogo asked.

"Bronchitis."

They all cringed. That was not good. "Oh boy…." Hiro murmured. "How bad? She at home or at the doctor or what?"

"She's at home thankfully." The girl sighed in relief. "My papa got her fixed up enough to be able to be home… just came on out of no where… he said it was mainly stressed induced based on questions he had asked her."

"Oh no…"

"She's been working like crazy…"

Hiro felt a pang of guilt. _I encouraged her to do all this stuff for the showcase… Oh man..._

"She should be okay by the big show csae thing though she is a little worried…"

One of them looked to Hiro. "Hiro, right?"

Hiro nodded. "Yep…"

"She just wanted to let you know not to worry too much and not blame yourself for any of this. She said it, not me."

"Man she has my number…." Hiro rubbed the back of his neck sighing. "I'm still gonna see her when I get a chance to…. Maybe pull Baymax along for the ride…"

"I'm sure she'd like that." The girls all gave a bow. "That's all we got to share."

"Thanks for stopping by…" Tadashi gave a bow of his own as Hiro quickly copied him. "Take care now."

"Yeah…."

They nodded and headed off.

"That one in the glasses is cute… Too bad he's too old for Kit Kat."

"She likes 'em young and reckless."

Everyone in the lab looked to each other worried.

"She seemed in perfect health… and I didn't see signs of stress either." Honey murmurred.

"Kat… Hides a lot of stuff… Really big stuff when she needs to…" Hiro spoke up. "Like her stress levels… She'll bottle it up but it'll come out in bursts until she's either borderline freaking out, or something triggers it…. But I've never seen her get sick from it before… That's… That's really big…"

"Maybe you should go see her now." Tadashi suggested, finally get Kokoro to shut off.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah I will… Make sure no one gets impaled by anything since I'm borrowing our medic bot…"

Tadashi fired off a salute. "Done deal."

Hiro nodded before collecting Baymax and heading out.

oooooo

"Kathleen?" Irene called quietly looking in on her daughter. "You have a visitor…"

Kathleen looked up. "Hm?"

"A handsome young man… And a marshmallow…"

Kathleen giggled, coughing a little. "Intrude…"

She stepped aside opening the door as Hiro made his way in, Baymax having to squeeze through the doorway a little. "Hey there Kat…"

She smiled a little. "Hey…" She sounded hoarse as she spoke.

Hiro winced a bit as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "How you holding up? We got the school girl tribunal dropping in on us."

"Okay I guess." she coughed a little. "Just coughing every five minutes…"

"Geeze…" Hiro winced. "Sorry…"

Baymax scanned her. "You've not taken your medication yet… I recommend doing so… It may alleviate the coughing for now."

Kathleen groaned a little. "I'll put up with it… I want to get better…"

The nursebot patted her head. "You will be alright."

Kathleen smiled a little. "Thanks Baymax…"

"You are welcome."

Hiro took her hand squeezing it gently. "You need us to do anything we're on it. Food runs, hugs… Borrowing Baymax as a cushion… You name it… You got it…"

She squeezed back, giggling. "Just glad you're here… feels weird not being at the lab…"

"I know that feeling… But you'll get back to it soon… And when you win that showcase you'll be practically living there."

"That's the hope." Kathleen broke into a coughing fit. "Mgh…"

Baymax rubbed her back to help ease her breathing. "Does anything hurt?"

"Just my chest… only a little though…"

Hiro shook his head. "Kat he doesn't operate on "a little"-"

"On a scale of one to ten how would you rate your pain?"

Kathleen looked at the chart, looking the faces.

"I'd probably match to an 8."

Baymax nodded before going through his treatment database. "Recommended treatment, mild pain relievers and cough syrup."

Hiro cringed. "Oh… That just sucks…"

"Woman up…" Kathleen muttered. "I'll take the medicine…"

"Good girl." Baymax patted her head.

Hiro shrugged. "Hey least your not hiding… I did that once… He followed me. Without spilling any of it."

"That's impressive…"

"Yeah… Let's go with that." Hiro said as Baymax administered the medicine. _I feel ya Kat… I do…_

Kathleen took the medicine, cringing a bit at the taste of the syrup, but feeling some relief after a few minutes.

"Okay… I say it's down to a 3…"

"Good."

"You want us to go just say the word… And if you wanna keep 8 boy here feel free."

Kathleen nodded. "Noted…" She held Hiro's hand.

Hiro held hers. "Want an update on the insanity level?"

"Yes please… Kokoro being a problem child again?"

"Yeah…" He brought his free hand to his face feeling a fresh bruise. "Takashi and I were holding him down because we needed to put in a new chip to refine his fighting skills… And his people skills when he got loose and swung. Takashi ducked… It hit me."

Kathleen winced. "Ouch…"

"Yeeeaaah…" He cringed. "It didn't kill me at least."

"Hate for that to happen… when I get back I'll talk with him about not hitting his daddy… or people in general."

"You're a good robot mom."

Kathleen giggled. "He just seems to like me."

Hiro chuckled. "Kind of how Baymax was all huggy with Honey Lemon when Tadashi was working on him."

Baymax lowered his head a bit in what could be seen as embarrassment.

"Aww… It's okay Baymax." Kathleen patted one of his arms.

"I did not mean to play "favorites."... But it was a long time ago…"

Hiro shook his head. "Diagnosis:... Embarrassment."

"... As they say… No comment from the peanut gallery."

Kathleen threw her head back laughing. "O-Oh my gosh!"

Hiro rolled his eyes chuckling. "Oh he's got some sass now."

"Just comes with being alive." Kathleen smiled, her laughter dying down due to some coughs. "He's still awesome though…"

Baymax ruffled her hair a bit. "Thank you."

Hiro smiled. "Glad you're gonna be okay… You sure you don't want me to get you anything? Feed the rabbit? Something?" _Give me a chance to be useful please._

"Johanna has been a little lonely over there… could you bring her over? She's in her cage over there."

Hiro gave a salute before heading over and carefully retrieving the rabbit. "Wow… She's really soft… Haven't seen her in awhile…" He held her close before bringing her back over to Kathleen. "Here ya go… Right to your mommy."

The rabbit hopped out of Hiro's arms into Kathleen's cuddling close to her.

Kathleen smiled petting her. "Hey girl… sorry… just haven't had the strength to get out of bed… just fall right over…"

Johanna nuzzled her, looking at her with what seemed to be sympathy.

"I'll be okay…" She coughed a little.

Johanna laid her head on Kathleen's arm closing her eyes as she relaxed.

"You will Kat…. Promise…"

She nodded. "I really want to go to SFIT Hiro… Guess all the worry just finally got to me…"

"I know that feeling…" He gave her a look of empathy. "It's a hard school to get into and you still got highschool stuff to deal with too… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry…"

"Not your fault…"

"I still feel bad… Blame the Hamada genes, we're incredibly sympathetic… And at times probably a little pathetic…"

"And submit to the "man cold." Baymax chimed.

Kathleen giggled, looking to Johanna. "Hey… go get 'im." she whispered as she grabbed her phone.

Johanna perked up before hopping over to Hiro crawling onto his lap. He picked her up holding her… Before said rabbit scurried onto his shoulders. "H-Hey!" He yelped before she wound up on his head cuddling it.

Kathleen quickly snapped a picture. "She still likes you."

Hiro chuckled. "And I still like her. Silly bunny…"

Baymax looked at Johanna. "Hairy baby."

Johanna looked at Baymax leaning over a little sniffing him curious.

"Very hairy baby." Hiro agreed bringing her back into his arms. "... Wanna hold her?"

Baymax held out his arms for the rabbit.

Hiro carefully handed her over as Johanna looked up at the robot curiously.

Baymax patted her head, sitting down.

The rabbit let out a happy sigh closing her eyes nuzzling.

"And seems she likes Baymax too."

"Anyone nice to me and willing to love her is always good in her book."

Hiro smiled. "Well she's a good judge of character…" He looked to Kathleen brushing some hair out of her face. "Really hope you feel better soon…"

"Me too…" She looked at him, reaching a hand up. "Wouldn't mind a hug."

Hiro smiled bringing her into an embrace. "Can do."

She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. "Warm…"

Hiro leaned back holding her, resting his head against hers. "I gotcha…"

"You're the best…"

"I try…" He hummed a little stroking her hair.

She closed her eyes relaxing into his arms.

"That's it…"

They were like this for a few moments and it wasn't long before Kathleen was out like a light.

"Her body is still recovering…" Baymax said as he set Johanna on the bed with her. "She is still suffering from exhaustion."

Hiro nodded carefully lying her down beside her rabbit. "She's had it rough…"

"She should recover in a few days as long as she gets enough rest and liquids."

"Right…"

Kathleen curled up under the blankets, Johanna curling up beside her. Baymax put a hand on Hiro's shoulder.

"We should let her rest."

Hiro nodded getting up. "Right… We'll call in to check in on her tomorrow."

Baymax nodded. "Right."

Hiro lead the way out bidding goodbye to Kathleen's folks as he did.

_Just keep strong Kat…_


	9. A Step Forward

Kathleen was getting better with time. She was still exhausted so she spent her time recovering mostly reading and watching movies. When she had visitors they kept her busy. She felt a little guilty that she most of the time fell asleep on them but they assured her it was fine.

"Hey!"

"Double Hamadas in the house!"

Kathleen giggled as Tadashi and Hiro entered her room. Hiro went over to her sitting on the chair next to her bed as Tadashi sat on the edge. "Well good to see you too…"

"Yeah we wanted to stop by make sure you haven't died of boredom yet." Hiro grinned a bit holding up a bag. "I brought manga."

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Try seven volumes of manga!"

She smiled. "I appreciate it.." She said taking the bag and looking through the contents. "Sherlock Bones?"

"It's really funny, you'd like it." Hiro promised with a bit of a sheepish look. "Always cheers me up when I'm not feeling so hot."

Tadashi ruffled his hair. "Yep."

"Thanks…"

"Also…" Tadashi held up his own bag. "This isn't just a pleasure visit… We picked up some books for ya on Molecular Gastronomy so you could get some ideas to help with your showcase project… You wanna impress SFIT it'll take more than liquid nitrogen ice cream… As glorious as it is."

He pulled out a few books handing them to her. "You don't have to go nuts, just flip through then when you feel up to it and if you wanna test anything out we're open."

"Yup." Hiro nodded. "And guess what? It's not just for nerdy cooking either. People pay big bucks for this stuff! You could open up a restaurant."

Kathleen giggled. "Maybe… I wanna see how I do at SFIT before going nuts on the public."

"Well like we've said… You need help, we're happy to oblige."

"You guys are the best." She smiled gratefully. "What else has been going on?"

"Kokoro has a voice box." Hiro grinned proudly.

"Oh he does!?"

"Yep." Tadashi gave Hiro a proud look. "Hiro worked his butt off on it. Still working on getting him to say more than "Hi" and "Hello I am Kokoro, I protect your heart and body" but it's getting there."

"He hasn't tried to kill me yet!"

She giggled coughing a bit. "That's great."

Tadashi frowned a little. "You still have that cough huh?"

"Yeah… Getting better but it's still driving me crazy."

"Chest pain?"

"Zero-"

"_Kathleen."_

"...Four."

Hiro shook his head. _Never question Baymax's creator…_

Tadashi looked through the bag. "Lessee….. Should also have-Aha!" He produced a bag of cough drops. "This should help the cough."

Kathleen gave a grateful look taking them as she popped one in. She cringed a bit at how it tasted.

"Sorry… Only got the medicinal kind." He apologized.

"It's fine. Woman up right?"

"Gogo been here?"

Kathleen held up a magazine about mountain bikes. "Yep. She heard my bike's chain was busted so she went a little nuts on it.. I haven't seen what she did to it yet… I'm a little scared."

The boys laughed. "Sounds like Gogo!"

"Give her a bike she'll take a mile!"

"I get the feeling I'll probably have a super fast bike after she's done… or I might never see it again since she might go a little nuts over it not being fast enough." Kathleen shook her head. "How many disks has she gone through?"

"Enough." Tadashi and Hiro laughed. "Just can't seem to get the perfect one."

Hiro stood up, putting a hand on his hip and another in the air, shaking it a fist.

"I TELL YOU! ONE DAY I WILL HAVE THE FASTEST BIKE EVER!"

Kathleen fell back on her pillow laughing.

"OH MY GOSH AHAHAHA!"

Hiro and Tadashi cracked up sharing a high five. "That's our Gogo."

"Speed demon she is."

Kathleen nodded, wiping away a tear.

"Oh I can't wait to be back in the lab."

Tadashi ruffled her hair. "You will soon kiddo. And by the end of the year you'll be with us full time."

"That's the hope."

"You got some great ideas… And you got the best nerds in town to help."

"Nerd alert." Hiro fake coughed.

Kathleen giggled.

"I'll do my best."

They both smiled. "We know you will."

"Besides… Honey's been lonely without her chemistry buddy." Tadashi smirked a bit.

Hiro shook his head. "Yep…"

"I miss her too… and the explosions…"

"You'll have plenty of explosions to make once you're back at the lab." Tadashi shook his head. "She'll make a pyro out of you yet."

"Gee I thought Fred claimed that job." Hiro remarked.

"Honey has him beat with explosions."

"True… True…"

Hiro squeezed Kathleen's hand gently. He just hoped she'd get better soon. "If you wanna kick us out say the word if you wanna rest."

"No… stay… I like having you guys here…" Kathleen squeezed back. "Though if I do fall asleep it isn't personal."

"We know…" Hiro smiled. "Just glad you're feeling a little better."

Kathleen smiled. "You and me both…"

_Heh…. She's cute when she smiles like that-Hiro. Stop that…. _He thought shaking his head a bit to clear his thoughts. "S-So um…"

"Yes?" Kathleen asked.

"I-I uh…." Hiro cleared his throat. "Erm…"

"Kat got your tongue?" Tadashi snickered.

Kathleen groaned, leaning her head back. "That was SO bad and you know it Takashi."

Hiro put his face in his hand trying to hide how red he turned. "Evil, evil cousin…" _But it's true..._

"I know… someone has to give you a hard time… Now go on, ask her."

"Ask me what?"

"Uh, yeah Takashi ask her what?" _Playing dumb. Not my best move but… COME ON._

Tadashi gasped. "You forgot? Oh… what a shame, guess it wasn't too important."

"Oh… Okay." Kathleen gave an understanding look, chuckling. "My mom sometimes say if you can't remember what you were going to say then it was probably a lie. In a joking kind of way of course."

Hiro just turned redder before he sighed. "N-No… I mean… I... " He took her hand again. "Kat… Would you… Wanna go somewhere with me when you're better? Just us?"

Kathleen blushed a little before nodding. "I-I'd like that…"

Hiro grinned a bit. "We'll work out the details when but… Maybe a movie and dinner? Or something…. You get to pick."

"Movie would be awesome…" Kathleen smiled.

"Movie it is." _I just asked her out on a date…. A DATE… _

"Yay…" She yawned a little, lying back. "Sorry…"

"Hey you're still fighting off this bug. Can't blame ya for being tired…" Hiro brought the blanket up more over her. "Try to get some rest."

Kathleen nodded, closing her eyes.

"Kay…."

Hiro hesitated a bit before stroking her hair. _Tada-nii always did this when I was tired…_

Kathleen relaxed nuzzling his hand a little, drifting off not too long after.

"Out like a light." Tadashi chuckled.

Hiro smiled. "Like a cat in a sunbeam."

"Yeah… and by the way bro." Tadashi gave him a pat on the back. "Nice one. You got yourself a date."

Hiro grinned sheepishly. "Thanks bro… And thanks for the kick."

"What are brothers for?" Tadashi looked at Kathleen. "She's a good girl Hiro…"

"Yeah… And I care about her a lot… I just don't wanna rush into things… I… I don't wanna ruin what we have already…" Hiro gazed at her for a moment before looking to his brother.

"I know what you mean, just take it easy and you should be fine… just be there for her."

"You know it… Gonna help her if I can to get into SFIT…"

Tadashi ruffled his hair. "Not giving up on her."

Hiro chuckled. "Yep… And if I had to…. I would run into a fire for her. I'd do that for all of you."

Tadsahi side hugged him. "We know… and I'd be sure you are safe."

Hiro hugged him back. "You're the best Tada-nii…"

Tadashi smiled. "Heh…"

"Well… Shall we head out so she can get some sleep?"

"Yeah, we need to be sure Kokoro isn't wandering around the lab again… or having an endless "I am Kokoro, I am Baymax" fight with Baymax."

Hiro snickered. "You gotta admit that was really funny."

"Yeah… throw that plant thing from Guardians of the Galaxy and you got a recipe for disaster."

"Or something really awesome if they were all kicking butt…. Maybe I could try that-"

"You're not a botanist Hiro."

"... Yeah but I play one on the internet?"

"... That was bad and you know it."

"Love you too." He ran out. "C'mon!"

oooooo

"EVERYONE! LOOK WHO IS BACK!" Fred cheered.

All looked to the door to see Kathleen walking in. She was still a little pale but she was looking a lot better than she was a few days ago. She was smiling with a look of relief in her eyes.

"Hey everyone."

They all clapped before running over to her in a group hug.

"Kit Kat's back!" Honey squealed hugging the girl tightly. "Now we can have double the explosions!"

Kathleen giggled, hugging her. "Missed you too Honey." She looked over to Gogo. "Where's my bike?"

"Under construction." She deadpanned. "Wasn't fast enough."

"Thought so." She giggled. "Hey Wasabi, Fred steal anything recently?"

"You know it." He gave the mascot an evil look. "But the reckoning was glorious."

Fred cringed. "Oh it was."

"... Please tell me someone got it on camera."

Everyone else held up their phones. "From all angles!"

"Score!"

Hiro grinned. "And that's just the start…" He broke off from the group giving a whistle. "Hey c'mere!"

Kokoro came out of Hiro's lab walking over giving a bow. "Hello, I am Kokoro, I protect your heart and body… Hello Kathleen."

Kathleen gasped, smiling.

"Kokoro! You're talking!"

The robot looked up he had on a watch similar to Tadashi's so a more human like face smiled at her with grey eyes. "Indeed I am."

"And he's got his proper face too." Hiro felt a surge of pride as he held his head up a little higher.

"He's amazing Hiro, you really out did yourself." Kathleen smiled.

Hiro smiled blushing a bit. "Thanks Kat… Means a lot… After two years and seventy five tests… He's done!"

Kathleen giggled, going over to him and hugging him. "Congrats Hiro."

Hiro hugged her, holding her a little closer. "Thanks… I'm really happy… He's working fine and…" He pulled back a bit smiling at her. "You're all better."

Kathleen blushed. "Yeah… now to just get my project ready."

"I'll help if you want. It'll be awesome." He assured her hugging her again. "Promise."

Kathleen hugged him back.

"Thank you…"

He hesitated before nuzzling her a little. "Anything for you."

Honey quickly took out her phone snapping a picture.

CLICK!

"I want a copy." Tadashi whispered.

Honey nodded grinning a bit. "Consider it yours."

"Awesome."

"Alright Missy, ready to work?"

Kathleen nodded.

"Yeah."

"Then let's get started."

ooooo

Kathleen was lying on top of a desk, letting her head hang over the edge, humming in thought with a notebook in her hand.

"Hrm…" She looked at her notes. "Maybe… no that won't work…" She sighed, letting her head hang again. "Come on brain… think of something… there's gotta be something we can do that's innovative with culinary arts…"

Hiro was sitting beside her on the floor looking through ingredient lists on some snacks he had gotten from the vending machine. "Lessee... Nuts…" He tossed one aside. "... Nuts." Another. "... For the love of… Why can't there be anything safe for people with allergies?!"

Kathleen looked at the snack pile. "What'cha got there?"

Hiro looked up. "Trying to get something to eat but unfortunately all of these contain my kryptonite… Peanuts."

Kathleen pointed over to her backpack. "Check my bag, I packed some pop tarts."

Hiro grinned before retrieving them. "Thanks Kat… Heh it would be pretty cool if there was something people with allergies or limitations could have so they wouldn't have to always worry."

"Yeah, like patients who are having a hard time keeping food down or need certain nutrients that are almost impossible to get because the foods they're in they're allergic to."

Hiro was quiet before he grinned. "Kat... I think you just found your project."

It clicked in Kathleen's head as she began to jot things down.

"Maybe there could be different versions depending on what someone would need… it'd be like vitamins… but it would be something that could help someone get by… supplements…"

"Yeah! Like tablets at times but liquids for others. Probably could help premies or people in a coma who were on a feeding tube or something."

"Yes! Oh and think about soldiers, they have to lug around a ton of food, it would be so much easier to have something that's lighter."

Hiro nodded quickly. "Yeah! And people who have disorders who can't eat much or their allergic to pretty much everything."

"Be like mana from heaven if they could finally eat something that could get them what they needed."

"... Yeah…" Hiro mused. "Heck… You could call it Mana."

Kathleen hummed in thought before smiling.

"Yes… it fits… I remember the old story goes that mana was what kept a group of people alive for 40 years…"

"Then it'll help keep other people alive too. Just gotta come up with it's form and how it'll be presented." Hiro smiled. "Kat… You're gonna help a lot of people."

Kathleen felt a sense of pride hearing that. "That's the hope… I'll have Honey help me figure out how to get the required nutrients all packed together and not have them clash and maybe have variations with some only having certain nutrients since it will depend on the person who needs it…" She held her note book close. "And of course testing it…"

Hiro squeezed her shoulder. "We'll all help there. I know a guy-" _Tadashi knows a guy. _"Who could see about having some patients test it out."

"That would be fantastic…" She giggled. "I feel all excited now."

He chuckled. "I'm glad for you Kat… The judges are gonna freaking LOVE this idea."

"I really hope so."

Hiro smirked.

"I know so."

Kathleen smiled, setting down her book before hugging him.

"Thanks Hiro… for everything…"

Hiro hugged her bringing her close. "Anytime Kat… I'm really happy for you."

She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I.. I just… I'm so happy to feel that I have a purpose… you helped me find that…" she nuzzled him a little. "You saved me…"

Hiro's gaze softened as he nuzzled back. "I just want to see you happy… I hate it when you're sad or hurt…"

"Hiro…"

"I care about you… You mean a lot to me Kathleen… That's the truth."

Kathleen pulled back a little, gazing at him, smiling.

"You really are a sweetheart…"

Hiro blushed smiling sheepishly. "Just a nerd…"

"An a amazing one." Kathleen blushed a little herself.

Hiro leaned in a little. "Kat…"

"Yes…?"

"I-"

"You two gonna suck face or are you gonna actually pick up your communicator?!"

Both froze looking towards the source.

Kathleen was bright red.

"E-Eh…?"

Fred was leaning on the doorway a smirk on his face but there was some seriousness as well. "Need to borrow your boyfriend for a bit, bank robbery on South."

Hiro went red pulling back from Kathleen. "She-We're not-I'll be right there! Sorry Kat!"

"I-It's fine…" She glanced at the ground, red as a tomato… "But before you go." She put a hand on his shoulder, a hesitant look in her eyes.

Hiro blinked turning his head. "Yeah?" He asked tilting his head a little.

She was quiet as she looked at him, blushing a little more.

_Just.. do it…_

She leaned in, quickly kissing his cheek.

"Be safe."

Hiro got a wide grin on his face before he nodded quickly giving a salute. "Will do!" He hesitated a bit before kissing her cheek in return before running off.

Kathleen was frozen in place for a few moments before a grin came across her face, doing her best to keep herself from squealing.

_He.. He just… EEEE!_

oooooooooo

"And she kissed you!"

"Tadashi yes for the last time. She kissed me. On the cheek-Oof!"

Tadashi had pulled his brother into a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Ugh you're being nerdy again!"

"I can't help it! My baby brother just got a kiss from a girl he likes!"

Hiro chuckled rolling his eyes. "Yeah…" He smiled thinking back to it. "It was awesome… And… I kissed her cheek too."

"That's my bro." Tadashi ruffled his hair.

Hiro laughed trying to squirm away. "Hey! Quit it that tickles!"

"I know!" Tadashi kept his grip, keeping at his task. "Bwahaha!"

"WAH! HALP! BAYMAX!" Hiro laughed trying to guard his head.

Baymax waddled over… embracing the two and patting their heads.

"Hairy babies."

The brothers blinked before bursting out laughing.

"Alright I'll admit defeat!"

"Can't beat the hug master."

Baymax pulled back, a message symbol appearing on his chest.

"It would seem Kathleen and Honey Lemon are making progress on her project. They have already started figuring out some of the compounds."

Tadashi grinned. "Knew they could. Those two could blow up the moon so better they're coming up with something else."

"Yeah… Kat's really making progress… She's gonna help a lot of people."

"That she will." Tadashi gave his hair another ruffle. "Thanks to you helping her."

Hiro smiled giving a small shrug. "I just did what you would do… Never gave up."

"And that's what she needed."

"Right. I have a good feeling about this.. I think she's gonna do it."

"You and me both."


	10. I made it

_Just… breathe… like Hiro told you… Like everyone told you…_

Kathleen looked at the judges before her as they looked at her work, jotting things down as they read her notes.

"So tell us Ms. Coleman, what do you hope to accomplish with this?"

"I intend to help those who are having a hard time getting nutrient. Something like this would be very helpful to those who have allergies to foods that have certain nutrients they need or are unable to keep food down or worse just can't eat anything at all." She took a deep breath. "My main purpose is medicinal, mana would be a huge help to those in need of a source of nourishment and are unable to get it." she gave a bow. "That is all."

The small crowd that gathered applauded as the judges went back to their notes looking at her work as well as that of others.

The team headed over to her once she was off the stage, Hiro pulling her into a hug.

"You did great up there."

Kathleen hugged him back, sighing in relief.

"Thought I was gonna choke for a minute."

"Didn't look like that to me." Hiro smiled pulling back a little. "You were a natural."

"My little Kathleen is growing up." Honey sniffled, wiping away proud tears. "Oh I'm so proud."

Gogo ruffled Kathleen's hair. "That's our girl! Womaning up and showing 'em who's boss!"

"Nice job Kit Kat." Tadashi smiled putting an arm around Honey's shoulders.

"You did good." Wasabi smiled.

"More like AWESOME." Fred grinned, patting her head. "You spoke clearly and stuff."

Kathleen giggled. "Little wobbly at first but then… it just came out."

Hiro chuckled hugging her again. "You were awesome. Not everyone needs to jump around the building." _Yeah I admit I was just showing off…_

"Just hope the judges think so…" Kathleen hugged Hiro tightly. "I'm still a little nervous about that part…"

Hiro hugged her tighter. "I know you'll do fine… Just keep breathing... It'll work out. Right guys?"

"Yeah!"

Kathleen smiled.

"Thanks guys…"

"Anything for our Kit-Kat."

"You're one of us now!"

Hiro chuckled. "Just need it to be official…"

Kathleen nodded.

It was about another hour before the judges came forward on the center stage of the show case.

"We have seen many entries tonight that are wonderful and outstanding. It truly has been hard to choose who should be allowed to receive this letter of acceptance to SFIT but we have finally come to a conclusion."

Kathleen gulped, shaking a little. Hiro squeezed her shoulder.

One of them smiled as they spoke. "The winner of the scholarship… Is Ms. Kathleen Coleman… Congratulations!"

She gasped, bringing a hand over her mouth.

_I… I actually did it?_

The judges looked to her, gesturing her to come up. She quickly made her way up, being greeted by the announcer who she knew as the lead teacher in the robotics lab, Lance Wylie.

"I look forward to having you in our class Kathleen, you really shined tonight."

Kathleen bowed. "Thank you sir… thank you so much."

Lance chuckled, before both posed for a few pictures.

"Alright go on, you got some friends to be with."

Kathleen nodded quickly, running off the stage back to the group, holding the letter up high.

"I DID IT!"

The group erupted into cheers, hugging her, ruffling her hair.

"Kat! This is amazing!" Hiro grinned before he pulled her close… Kissing her.

Kathleen's eyes went wide, looking at Hiro in surprise before they relaxed, bringing her arms around him, kissing him back.

They stayed like that for a moment before breaking the kiss. "Wow…" Hiro breathed grinning. "That… Felt really cool."

Kathleen nodded. "Y-Yeah… Oh Hiro.." She embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm gonna get to be with you guys…"

"EEE! There's our champ!"

"Eh?"

Kathleen looked to see her friends charging over.

"Oh no-"

CRASH

Kathleen was tackled to the ground as her friends all tried to get their chance to hug her all yelling their congratulations or trying to speak at once. "You did it!"

"We knew you could!"

"And you got the man too!"

Kathleen blushed madly.

"G-Guys!"

"What?" Kailey grinned. "We saw that!"

Kathleen sighed, shaking her head.

"Can't win."

"Actually…" Hiro held up the envelope. "You did."

She laughed. "Yeah… I did… Oh gosh…" She squealed a little. "Alright home made ice cream on me!"

Everyone laughed as they started to head out. "Nothing is better than free food!" Fred cheered.

Hiro smiled keeping in step with Kathleen offering her an arm. "Especially Kat's."

Kat smiled, blushing a bit as she looped an arm around his.

"I'll be sure there's enough for everyone then."

Hiro kissed her cheek. "Sounds like a plan…. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Hiro… that means a lot…"

"Anytime Kat… I'm really happy for you."

She rested her head on his shoulder a little, sighing happily.

"This… has been one of the best nights of my life…"

Hiro rested his head against hers.

"I'm glad Kat… And this is just the start of the rest of your life… Welcome to SFIT."


	11. A New Start

"WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

"Not like this!"

Hiro grinned holding onto Kathleen as they flew on Baymax trying to keep out of sight as they headed on to SFIT.

"You're crazy!" She laughed. "This is nuts!"

"You know you love it!"

"... Yeah I do." She giggled.

She had been attending SFIT for two weeks now and Hiro was lending a hand as both had woken up past the alarm this time around.

_Never get sick of flying either… _

He landed behind the school as he and Baymax hid their armor, Hiro heading in with Kathleen and the nursebot in tow.

"Ah the star crossed lovers have returned!"

They just laughed shaking their heads before looking to each other. "Not exactly star crossed." Kathleen giggled.

Hiro smiled putting an arm around her. "Yep… Oh by the way gotta show ya something c'mon!"

"Okay!"

Hiro took off running for his lab as she chased after. Once they were inside Hiro made sure no one else saw before turning to her. "Well… There's more so something to ask…"

"Well?" She crossed her arms grinning a little. "Let's hear it."

Hiro shook his head before producing a helmet with green and blue accents. "For flight night purposes only. No hero stuff."

She took it smiling. "Hiro…"

"So… Seven o clock?"

Kathleen kissed his cheek. "Seven it is… It's a date."

"Great."

Kathleen giggled, looking over to Kokoro.

"He almost finished?"

Hiro smirked. "Yep, just need some armor printed up for him and he'll be ready for combat… I kind of feel bad for the crooks I'm gonna unleash him on."

"Well… they brought it on themselves."

"... And I honestly don't feel bad!" He laughed. "It's gonna be awesome… Still no team name change since he's a bot and only gonna get brought out if things are looking REALLY bad. Like Earthquake, floods, fires…. Hostage situations bad."

Kathleen nodded. "I'll be the one to dispatch him then since I'll be here at HQ."

Hiro grinned. "Our ears as it were."

"Yeah…"

Kathleen sighed happily.

"Still can't believe I'm here… I keep forgetting I don't need to go back to my old school anymore…"

Hiro smiled putting an arm around her. "It's a pretty awesome feeling isn't it?"

"It is… hard work really does pay off in the end…"

"It really is… Not bad for a "normal" girl eh?" He grinned.

Kathleen hugged him. "Oh you.."

"You know you love me-" He cut himself off turning a bit red as he hugged her back.

"Actually… I do." She giggled, kissing him quickly.

Hiro grinned blushing. "And… I love you too.." He kissed her bringing her close. "You're awesome…"

"And so are you."

"Aw Kat…" He was about to say something before Baymax's message box appeared.

"There appears to be another monorail crash."

Hiro shook his head. "They need to fix that…Well… Duty calls. No rest for the heroes right?"

"Nope." Kathleen pulled away. "Go get 'em."

Hiro smirked nodding as he and Baymax hurried out to meet up with the others. "We're still on for tonight!"

Kathleen nodded, leaning back against a desk, sighing happily.

_High tech school… nerdy friends… who are also superheroes… this is the life._

**The End  
**


End file.
